‘That’s it,’ I thought, ‘she’s lost to me forever’ – this overwhelming realisation was followed by an enveloping of fear for the future. My younger sister was gifted an iPhone.
It doesn’t matter that it was her 16th birthday and she was receiving her first ever phone. What mattered is that firstly it wasn’t a Nokia 3210 that weighed more than your eager-beaver pencil case, and secondly I knew she would follow suit and become one of those human shaped sheep, (myself included), that have been joining in 2014’s (now 2015) version of communication.
Gone are the days where we enjoyed other people’s company and entered is the age of social media communication. Around six billion people own a phone of which 680,000,000 are using Facebook, 645,750,000 using Twitter, 200,000,000 are using Instagram, over 400 million snaps are being sent a day with Snapchat and What’s App has over 600,000,000users. Does anybody remember what ‘texting’ means? All forms of communication over an internet connection come under the term ‘social’, apparently. I haven’t even started on online dating apps- as an ex-avid user I have subsequently grown tired of holding a phone in my palm, cramping my hand and speaking to more men than I have fingers, toes and hair follicles.
There are many key skills we need in life and a comprehensive use of today’s digital technology is a great part of this. Yet, simple communication is slowly fading into the background. A bit like my will to date accomplished and ambitious men. When we put pen to paper our thought process has to slow down, re-evaluate and possibly re-write (unless you’re in an exam – that used to suck). Online communication is quicker, easier and more dangerous in terms of hormonal on-the-go angry messages. Yes, I have often sent my fair share.
The new methods of contacting each other shouldn’t be shunned, I love them. I love that I can see what my friends are doing through Snapchat. I appreciate that Skype allows me to call my friends around the world. I indulge in the instant messaging nature of What’s App and its free photo-sending capabilities.
The fact that I can market my short story and my writing through Twitter and Facebook is the double-glazed cherry on top of my social pie. They are great tools for businesses and have a lot of pros. Then again, when a guy asks me out on a date and says, ‘let’s Skype at six’, as his version of a date, I want to scream, stamp my feet and send him more than an evil emoji. My reaction makes more sense if the man lived 30 minutes away- hypothetically speaking.
There’s either a huge flaw in this new communication age or I attract complete and utter lazy bums (unfortunately, we have to strongly consider the latter in this evaluation). Everything in this world has a pro and a con. There’s so much beauty everywhere but it’s easy to miss when you’re looking down at your phone the entire time. I watched a video recently that emphasises this point in a clear and clever rap:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152753344339769
There are so many travellers in this world and it’s great that they want to trot the globe along with recording the journey on their devices (at least I hope). It’s always going to be a different viewpoint and perspective with your eyes than it is with your camera lens or phone screen.
One thing I learnt on my travels was to always look up and look behind. You could be missing the very thing you’re looking for.
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