As Facebook celebrates 10 years of whatever it is it does I've been pondering on the rise of social media. Is it, in fact, making us less social with each other? I know for a fact I have "friends" on Facebook that I haven't talked to in countless years. I get the occasional glimpse of their lives but I don't know anything more about them really than I do a stranger in the street. And because I see them on Facebook it is fair to say I am actually less likely to catch up with them in real life.
Has social media actually increased meaningful interaction between people or is it all just a misnomer? Yes there are significantly more "virtual" interactions between people as a result of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc.. but does that mean we are more social - or just better connected? Liking 40 photos of a friend's trip to London is vastly different from meeting up and talking to them about it over a beer.
People actually seem LESS likely to physically catch up with a friend or make the time to go and see family members or old work colleagues in the way that used to happen even five years ago. We seem to think that an online (and often very indirect) social interaction in some way adequately substitutes for a good old fashioned get together and as a result those physical face-to-face interactions fall by the wayside.
I will confess to being exceptionally guilty of the above charge so I am not bashing people who choose to interact that way, just pointing out that we have maybe been hoodwinked slightly into believing we are becoming more social when actual we simply have more ways of interacting from afar with people.
Twitter for example allows you to interact with other people and get an insight into their lives but it doesn't make you their friend. Interaction does take place but it is at such a superficial level (and often fleeting) that I would hesitate to call it social. Virtual contact can only take you so far.
There is also the darker side of social media to consider. It is a tool that can be manipulated and used by people for more sinister things. It is very easy to hide behind a blanket of anonymity and interact with people in a manner that is quite definitely towards the more "anti-" side of social.
As we travel further into the digital age don't forget that virtual interactions are all well and good, but sometimes it is better to get out there and remember what social interaction is actually all about.
So go see someone you haven't physically seen for a while; meet a friend for a drink and have a face-to-face talk about each other's lives or simply get on the phone and remember what someone sounds like. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some friends to properly catch up with.
Today's #randomfactoftheday - The mean number of friends among adult Facebook users is 338.
Today's #badjokeoftheday - Q: Why can't you hear a pterodactyl go to the toilet? A: Because the "p" is silent
Today's #websiteoftheday - The first ever webpage (http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html)
On this day: 1909, Leo Baekeland (a Belgian chemist) announces the creation of the world's first synthetic plastic - Bakelite
Till next time,
DT
No comments:
Post a Comment