It’s Tuesday afternoon and I’m sitting at Starbucks waiting to meet up with an old high school friend; probably one of the few that I actually still talk to in person. As I look around, I see a bunch of tables each occupied by one person. Every one of these people was either on their laptop, tablet, or smartphone, not really saying a word to anyone around them. Most of the sound surrounding me was from the machines making the drinks or from people typing on their computers.
That got me thinking: when was the last time any of us actually talked to someone face to face (and no, facetiming and snapchatting doesn’t count)? You may say this morning when you ordered your Starbucks drink with the barista. Ok, sure you talked to them. But my point is that so many of us, especially millennials and younger, just can’t seem to disconnect ourselves from the electronic world. We always feel the need to be on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, or some sort of social media. We also feel that we have to reply to a text message within seconds, or god knows the person on the other end will start to get antsy. It’s almost as if we’re all living our lives through a 2 x 5-inch screen – it’s time to change that.
We are always so focused on what’s happening in other people’s lives that sometimes we don’t take the time to enjoy our own. For example, instead of spending our time being jealous of someone else’s trip to Europe, we should enjoy our own night out with our friends in Las Vegas – our Europe trip will come someday. At music concerts, we are so focused on filming the event and saving the moment, that we don’t actually take the time to live the moment.
The thing is, the lives we think our “friends” lead based on what they post can actually be 100% fake! People post what they think will get them the most likes, what they think people want to see, not what they really want to show the world. In fact, it’s often used as a way to be someone we’re not comfortable being in reality. The idea behind this belief is that the computer screen will protect us and no one can come after us physically for what we say online; it’s a real epidemic for our current generation, unfortunately.
Don’t get me wrong, social media does have its good aspects too. For example, it can connect us with our friends and family who don’t live nearby and don’t get to see very often. But that’s just it! Social media is meant for us to connect with people who are not in our presence.
So, this week, I challenge you to put your phone down, close your laptop, lock your tablet, and go see someone you know in person. Go have coffee, go bowling, watch a movie, go for a hike, go shopping – the possibilities are endless! Oh, and remember, be safe!