Social Media

I think social media has a lot to answer for. It has definitely made my attention span shorter, I guess, and I feel contributes to the impatience many people exhibit now.  We have all this instant news and information at our fingertips and to what gain? 

How does social media enhance our lives? (Yes, I am aware of the benefits of social media.) Would our time not be better served by actually talking to people face-to-face?  Spending quality time with them and not our phones?

Don’t get me wrong.  Technology is useful and we have made great strides in our world with what we are capable of doing.  It has its benefits and I don’t think that should change.  But, sometimes I feel we need to take half a step back and just be. With others.  With ourselves.  Without the phones and computers.

I still write in a journal with a pen, albeit my handwriting has suffered somewhat due to prolonged use of a keyboard to type with.  I also still read proper books, though I do have a Kindle for ease of reading when travelling.  

What I think is essential is that we teach the younger generations the joys of real interaction with each other.  Not online, but going over to each other’s houses, playing at the park, swimming in the pool, riding bikes, playing games (card and board games or trivia or any of those sorts of games).  

I should follow my own advice more.  I do read a lot now.  There was a season where I was doing more writing than reading.  Perhaps getting back to full-on reader mode will help my writing.  

But that’s a tangent to my main topic here. Social Media; maybe it’s time to remind ourselves what it was actually created for.  

Think about the name: Social Media.  It’s social and it’s media.  Now let’s consider the fact that normal news media usually report headlines, or news of interest and not every mundane bit of information that passes in a day…perhaps we should go back to only sharing our social media headlines and not every little thing that goes on in our lives. 

Just a thought.