still pumpkin spice everything day
The second and last blog...
Monday, May 5, 2014
Are we more
connected or less connected because of social media?
So it's not
Sunday... whatevs... This blog will be switching to a vlog (or
blog/vlog hybrid or something) once I get it all sorted out. In the
meantime, I'll give you a topic...
I saw this link
yesterday to a video called Look Up arguing that we are cut off by
our obsessive social media activities. It's like slam poetry but a
bit slower. And it's good, but I find myself wanting to tell the
author to just calm the hell down. It's so dire. I can't say that
the amount of time we're spending on electronics isn't a problem,
especially kids, but it's not the only thing going on. It's also not
like this is the first time in history we've had anti-social trends.
There was a
black&white picture going around recently of a crowded commuter
train fully of nobody talking to each other because they were all
behind their newspapers. Then came radio, and then television,
personal computers and video games, each being hailed as the end of
civilization as we know it. That isn't entirely wrong. The old
norms pass away, but some things always remain.
I'm sitting in
coffee shop right now. Some people are chatting, some on their
computers, some behind a book or a newspaper. Almost everyone has
checked their phone at some point. Even head-down over an app, we're
communicating. We're chatting or texting with a friend. We're
receiving information about the inane and momentous things going on
in their lives right now. We're losing ourselves in a story,
fictional or autobiographical. Some of us are reading about upcoming
statistical research papers (because we are unashamed geeks). None
of this stuff is new.
But I don't dismiss
the truth that the amount of electronic interface time is changing.
We can be accessible at all times. Some of us are physiologically
addicted to checking our twitter and facebook accounts. I know the
kids are supposed to be crazy texters - I remain one of the world's
slowest - and so they come from a different mindset than when I was
younger. There is no doubt that young brains develop differently
when they spend too much time in front of a screen, at least partly
because the brain reacts differently to an electronic screen than it
does to the light bounced off a book, or the face of a friend. And
it can't be argued that we can treat people differently when we are
behind an internet connection than when we have to look at them eye
to eye. We can be far, far crueler...
But I have found the
various forms of electronic media to be the lifeline I have needed at
different times in my life. When I have been homebound for long
periods of time, being able to interact, even with strangers, online,
I have felt like I still existed in the world. It has saved me from
the rabbit hole of my own mind. It can get pretty dark down there,
and you can always count on a little lolcat to drive away some of the
darkness. Even so-called mindless cable TV helped abate some of the
post-partem depression and loneliness I experienced after both of my
boys were born.
There's a limit, of
course. We need social interaction, but we can't get it all at a
distance. We need to breath in other human thoughts and other human
faces. We need empathy and discourse. We need human touch. And we
need nature, fresh air and greenness. We need play and
self-stimulous and imagination. If we are to remain a healthy
society, we need to find the balance of all these forces.
Think of our
electronics as a kind of food group. It's okay to ingest them, just
in the right proportions for each person. It also means treating
them like mealtime. A little snack is okay, even a meal of two. But
some of us pop tweets like we pop potato chips. It's not healthy to
be constantly eating, even small amounts, all day and especially not
all night.
One last thing
before I post this without editing and run off to my physical therapy
appointment. In this video, it shows a missed opportunity for a
relationship because of these nefarious electronics. You know how
else you can miss out on talking to that person? Stopping to smell
the flowers. Being on the other side of the street. Or even being
at the park, which plenty of kids still do around here. You can't
spend your life standing around on street corners waiting to have
that chance encounter with "The One." That's why it's
called chance.
Silly people. But I
take your point.
So, anyone reading
this, go meet up with some friends or strike up a conversation with
some strangers and tell me what you think. Is our technology a leash
or a lifeline?
Discuss.
Starbucks
16oz Soy Vanilla
Mocha
Pumpkin Scone
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