We are more connected now, then why we are lonely?
Social Media & Phones are for Connecting People: Are we really connected ???
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I got my first phone when I was 18 years old and was undergoing my 2nd year of graduation. I must tell you that I had to fight a lot for the phone as my father thought it will distract me from studies. But I wanted it so badly because I wanted to stay connected with my friends after college & also the other people.
Finally, I got it & was very happy, at least for a few days. I joined Orkut & Facebook as these websites were for connecting people. I also felt more connected, for time being.
In this age of digitization, there are a plethora of apps, platforms, mobiles & they all are to connect with each other irrespective of the distance.
So now, we should feel more connected. But do we?
What went wrong? – Excessive use of connecting apps rather than conneting with people.
I was once sitting in a cafe waiting for my order of apple pie and coffee. There was one couple also waiting for their food. Their order arrived and the girl started clicking pics of the food and got busy uploading it, which I can safely assume, on social media apps, then & there.
Another table, a family (parents with 2 teenage children) was sitting. Both the children were busy with their mobiles. Parents were trying to talk to them but they hardly took their eyes off from the mobile screen.
Nowadays, this is a common sight everywhere. People are generally busy clicking pics, chatting, busy with social media or gaming apps, even when they are out for spending time with each other.
Today people are more interested in connecting on social media rather than in person. We want space from our parents & partner but are not willing to maintain space from the apps.
People have hundreds of friends on the apps but still, they keep posting the status saying that they are lonely. They don’t want to talk to the people in their life because they are busy in searching/making new connections.
When I got my phone, I started talking to friends & chatting with new people. In the meantime, I lost track of the time which I could have spent with my family, & with my friends.
Well, it took me some time to realize who are the true people in my life but till then I had wasted a good amount of my time which I could have invested in my studies and giving more time to my family and friends who always stood by me in my thick and thin.
Connecting in the digital world is not bad but we need to know the art of balancing.
- We need to know how much is too much. Take your eyes off the screen, look out of the window & look around, see everything around you. The world is so beautiful. Especially when you are out, try to be out of the digital world completely and try to get absorbed in the physical world around you.
- When you are out for lunch/dinner with your loved ones, the ones important & dear to you, DON’T YOU DARE TO EVEN LOOK AT THE SCREEN.
- Spend more time with your loved ones not only just physically but mentally as well. These are the moments you can cherish later not your time on apps.
- If that’s not enough for you and you need reasons. Petra Ivanigova gave 5 reasons ⬇️
Thanks, Petra.
Smartphones are smart enough to keep you glued to the screen, but you need to be smarter than your phone to know how much time it requires and how much your loved ones deserve.
Don’t forget, smartphones and social media apps are meant for connecting people, not for replacing those who have always been there for you.
Don’t just have a digital connection; build an emotional connection too.
