Social Media: Downfall Or Development?

According to Wikipedia, the generation gap is defined as “a difference of opinion between two generations regarding beliefs, politics, or values.” As technology advances, this perceived gap, the clash of what different age groups consider important, is only growing wider. My sister’s thesis in art school this year is about the impact of social media on art as we once knew it. The perception of the world around us and how people communicate with each other is ever-changing and that is how the generation gap is growing wider.

Toddlers these days are capable of accessing their favourite nursery rhymes on tablets or smartphones, where even in the nineties when I was growing up, such things didn’t exist yet. The critics of social media’s impact on society would say that conversation is a dying art, with individuals buried in their phones and computers all the time. My grandmother, a former lecturer, is one of those critics. I believe that the way we communicate has and will continue to change. Social networking has in some ways made the world a smaller place, in others created a more introverted and self-reliant society.

With a multitude of social media platforms, it is much easier to connect with a global audience than it was for the older generation. The so-called millennials have a craving for approval on a global scale, almost as if not capturing a moment with a smartphone or similar device means it didn’t happen. As a desperately shy person, I love being able to communicate without facing that internal awkwardness I feel even speaking to strangers on the phone. I’m not sure how my confidence face to face improved before that anxiety around the faceless strangers did. In fact when it comes to socialization, I am a huge contradiction. My best friend in the world is the digital age’s equivalent of a pen pal, until last year we spent five years growing closer through only Facebook and a common video editing hobby on Youtube. It took six years for us to finally bridge the continental divide and meet face to face, but when we did there was no awkwardness at all after the first few minutes.

My personal experience goes to show that the growing trend of online dating and relationships is nothing to be scoffed at in today’s ever more digitalized world. Although the way people socialize is changing and face to face communication is less common, maybe the same can even be said for kids spending time outdoors and learning through hands-on playtime. But the world is constantly adapting and advancing, so social norms must naturally evolve as well. This generation of social media addicts stir up very public clashes of opinions, where disagreements were once private affairs held behind closed doors. The over-sharing of personal matters has broken down as many relationships as it has given the chance to begin.

Both the tragedies and joys in people’s lives, whether personal or globally newsworthy, are blown out of proportion with the culture of social media what it is today. People compare themselves to the image that their loved ones or celebrities portray, perceiving that as the standard of happiness.

Viral Internet jokes are known as memes, one particularly brutal one I remember seeing was by a comic artist who believed that if the Titanic had gone down in this century, people would have ogled the sinking ship with smartphones in hand instead of trying to help. That thought paints a grim picture for today’s youth and introverted as I am, I believe in human kindness before scope for a spectacle. Nobody should value five minutes of fame over care for our fellow humans.

Change, whether technological or on a personal level, is inevitable in life. Personally I am still finding the nerve to adapt and face changes in life with courage and grace. Technology is advancing so fast, the average person must keep up at the risk of losing social contact to all-knowing robots like the Siri or Alexa personal assistant devices. As fascinating and fun as the knowledge of those devices is, personally I prefer the warmth in a cuddle from a loved one. I think electronic developments are making earth (and indeed outer space) a smaller world, but sadly also a more impersonal one. For me social media is an introvert’s crutch, but I would never choose it over a hug from a loved one and indeed the only opinions I value are from those same near and dear. Facebook and messaging apps like WhatsApp may be the only way to keep in touch with a lot of friends and family for me, but if having them closer were an option that would obviously be my choice.

Technological advancements should make life easier and more convenient without dehumanizing society and making us immune to the struggles of others. To me, love and compassion will always be more important than convenience. Although the media puts people who think that way on a pedestal, I wish it could just be the norm in society, making our world a better place in the process.