Social Networking Inhibiting Our Ability to Live J:4460

Social Networking Inhibiting Our Ability to Live

It is truly amazing to me that the world of social media has changed everything. When I was a child I played outside with friends and spent time with my family, but now that social media has come along it has completely changed the importance of real socialization for younger generations including our own.

Anyone who owns a facebook or a twitter knows that they spend way too much time being consumed by what other people have to say on the Internet. It is highly frustrating to see that friendships have turned into things I’d like to call “Web-ships.” Web-ships are friends who only talk on the Internet, make promises to hang out, yet can never escape from the computer or phone applications long enough to actually do so.

I know social networks are important, but why are they? Does it grow one’s self-esteem to see that one person has commented on their page or mentioned them in a tweet? It’s a little sick to think that it might.

I get that without social media, we might not get to stay in touch with people we knew long ago, but isn’t it hazardous to stay in the past? Doesn’t this inhibit our abilities to actually socialize with real people face-to-face on a daily basis? I think this is a huge possibility. As a society, we’re so caught up with what our friends are doing on the Internet that we inhibit ourselves to actually get out there and do things ourselves, to meet new people, to actually experience new things.

Unfortunately, even if one is to leave the comfort of the Internet at home, they have the ability to tweet and facebook anywhere they’re located by using their cell phones. I continuously see friends at social gatherings texting, tweeting, and facebooking to their hearts content. Some stand in corners to go back to the comfort of their Internet web-ships while all of their friends sit around mingling. I can’t even count the numerous times I’ve been invited to go out with someone, but the entire time we’re out they tend to their social networking needs rather than tending to our real friendship.

One of my favorite examples of social networking inhibiting someone’s day-to-day life is the Toyota Venza commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUGmcb3mhLM) where the woman complains about how her parents only have 19 friends on facebook. The ironic part of the commercial is that her parents are actually out with real friends while the daughter is stuck at home on facebook. It’s a prime example of how society is too into their Internet lives rather than their real life to get out there and experience new things. 

Don’t get me wrong; social networking can be of some importance if it actually sparks a real friendship off of the Internet. I think as a society, we need to put down our phones, iPads, computers and step into doing real things like hanging out with real people, or going to a park, or going to a movie. We need to step out of our comfort zones and actually experience our lives, because the truth is, we only get to live once. Why waste it pining over what your ex-boyfriend said to their new girlfriend on Facebook? Or reading 5 million reviews about the new restaurant that just opened down the street? Just get up, close the computer, and go!