You wake up, the birds are chirping, and the possibilities of a new day rush over you. You roll over and are welcome by glowing Instagram notifications. You launch Instagram and gawk at a simple photo of an egg that has broken the record for the likes on a single Instagram post. And you think, social media isn’t so bad… right?
It has been brought to my attention that people find social media to be harmful, from having very strong opinions on how it’s affecting the overall youth, to even the extent that it is destroying our democracy. I should express that these are all very valid points but honestly, it feels very similar to when the people of Bomont were against dancing and rock music.
You see, our generation is not much different from others, in the 50’s all people were doing was having their heads in newspapers and tuning into the radio. Then the 60’s came around, no one could look away from the television. So maybe today’s behavior of looking down into our laptops and smartphones shouldn’t be given nearly as much attention.
I’ve seen someone my age take 10 minutes to find the right angle or filter for a selfie only to delete it once it doesn’t get enough likes. Many have said that acting this way is the result of superficial behavior, especially so, that social media makes us think that we have to be perfect. But in actuality, this kind of stuff has been happening for decades. It’s not that technology has started these kinds of issues but it simply facilitates it.
Another way of looking at it is that, we shouldn’t feel sorry for the couple on their first date focusing on their phones instead of each other. But maybe they’re avoiding an awkward silence or not allowing an argument.
So it’s safe to say that social media isn’t destroying society as we know it. But it’s just enabling a behavior that has been happening for generations. At some point we’re going to be wishing for the day of snapchat selfies to come back because before we know it; someone else is going to come up with something to consume all of our time.
It has been brought to my attention that people find social media to be harmful, from having very strong opinions on how it’s affecting the overall youth, to even the extent that it is destroying our democracy. I should express that these are all very valid points but honestly, it feels very similar to when the people of Bomont were against dancing and rock music.
You see, our generation is not much different from others, in the 50’s all people were doing was having their heads in newspapers and tuning into the radio. Then the 60’s came around, no one could look away from the television. So maybe today’s behavior of looking down into our laptops and smartphones shouldn’t be given nearly as much attention.
I’ve seen someone my age take 10 minutes to find the right angle or filter for a selfie only to delete it once it doesn’t get enough likes. Many have said that acting this way is the result of superficial behavior, especially so, that social media makes us think that we have to be perfect. But in actuality, this kind of stuff has been happening for decades. It’s not that technology has started these kinds of issues but it simply facilitates it.
Another way of looking at it is that, we shouldn’t feel sorry for the couple on their first date focusing on their phones instead of each other. But maybe they’re avoiding an awkward silence or not allowing an argument.
So it’s safe to say that social media isn’t destroying society as we know it. But it’s just enabling a behavior that has been happening for generations. At some point we’re going to be wishing for the day of snapchat selfies to come back because before we know it; someone else is going to come up with something to consume all of our time.