Sunday, August 23, 2015

Too close for comfort

As 90's kids, we were born into a world that was on the brink of the technological revolution. We were the generation that did go out and play and the only enemy was the 'idiot box'. The time before camera phones and Facebook. The visits to dingy cyber cafes, MSN, yahoo messenger and LimeWire.
It took over really fast. There have been revolutionary inventions in our time, it's undeniable. We are already in a world that is co-dependent on technology. Someone told me the other day that it is possible to print human cells. Can you believe that shit? Like fuck robots, we skipped that step. 

While technology is super helpful and necessary at this point, I feel like it is not all for the good.
Now hear me out, I know everyones like oooh snapchat selfies and #werkit #nofilter #blessed. But I remember when we were kids and we were terrified of calling our friends on their landlines. Or when we especially brought out our cameras on special occasions to be able to take pictures. Or when cameras had films!! (don't miss that one tho)
So anyway, the simpler time was not too far ago. And we literally grew up with the World Wide Web, growing as it grew. 
Now I'd be lying if I said the Internet isn't most of my life. It has been for a long time. I'm an OG, I've been here forever. I have seen websites rise and fall. I've cribbed about various Facebook/ Tumblr updates that were unholy. I've watched and lived innumerable memes. I use abbreviations when I speak. 'tbh' that annoys my friends. I've received anon hate and love, made friends, fallen in love, and most importantly experienced the joy that is live blogging. 
The point tho, is that 5 years ago the Internet was a cute tiny space where not everyone was active and not every free space was covered with ads. 
I don't like where the Internet is currently. I liked it when it was just us. The 90's kids. Because old people didn't completely know how to use a computer. And the Kylie Jenner generation was not born yet. 
There are SO MANY websites, blogs, apps, channels, pages, accounts that one can't honestly be expected to keep up all the time. Like I don't have enough hours in my day.
I liked the Internet when I could decide what I could do on it you know. People didn't need to know I was online. You could be low key there. Now when people message you they know if you received their message, read it, what time you read it, what time you were last active at, what time you were last online at, if you have any activity on any other social media outlet which would prove that you're ignoring them. 
People are getting clingy and there is no way to turn it off. 
Everyone has an average of like 500 friends on Facebook. Now if you speak to even like 10% of them actively that is 50 people. Being able to contact you all the time. Maybe I'm just an introvert but I can't handle that much social activity. I also can't handle small talk, which there is a lot of on the Internet. 
10 years ago, I don't think people went out this much. They couldn't constantly keep in touch like we can. They didn't feel the need to take pictures of daily things and post them all over the place. 
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with people wanting to capture their life and share it with their friends and family. 
But when do we stop?
Whatever happened to the concept of personal space?
And are we are a society acting differently because we are constantly under the public eye, even if it's just online? Did people always live like this? Is it healthy? To constantly be exposed to the highlight reel of everyones life (famous and not) and compare it your behind-the-scenes?
Social media is such a powerful tool. I can't express how powerful, it gives us a voice, it gives us access to great things happening around the world, it gives us the power to communicate with anyone anywhere about anything, it raises awareness, educates us about the realities of the world we live in. It is a democracy in most ways. You can do whatever you want and all you need is internet access.
The perks probably outweigh my concerns. And I'm not in any way against social media. I just think we as people are becoming shallow and pretentious and I think social media might have a lot to do with it.
Also, I feel like everyone in our generation has ADHD because we are bombarded with so much information, it is hard to stay focused. That can't be good.
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