The B I G Distraction
We live in a time when so many people look like they are moving when in actuality they're not going anywhere. The art of illusion on social media distracts many from the truth when the fact of the matter it's all one big distraction. In the beginning of the social media era there was a raw athenticity, but now that so many have gotten instant fame from there's been a ripple affect that has caused an increase of over saturation to. Take youtube for instance. I can remember when youtube first began years ago and videos were so raw. There was this platform that connected people from all over the world and it became a thriving platform for creatives. I remember freshman year of high school me and my friends rushing home to watch the latest "J smoove" videos or doubling over in laughter at Cam's Karaoke channel. Let's not forget the viral 'Kelly's Shoes" videos or even some of our favorite youtube shows. Once youtube grew and ultimately sold to Google, it became flooded with ads in addition to meaningless click bate content. The more that people realized that they could make money off of it, the less authentic it became because so many people began only doing it for the money.
I've noticed that with the rise of social media, the millennial generation has also lost a lot of social skills. The shift came rapidly from instant messenger to texting each other. Most of us have turned into introverts myself included for a period, but there was once a time when we communicated differently. I can remember rushing home in middle school with my best friend and calling boys on my mom's office phone or even staying on three way all night with my friends. I don't even know what we used to to talk about for four and five hours, but the conversation kept flowing. There was a time when we actually knew our friends and not just the exterior of a person. People don't talk to each other anymore and instead of communicating fully we've begun a habit of just shutting out. A couple of months ago, a person who I once called friend hung up in my face to text me when I was going through a really difficult time and wanted to talk to her. This was a friend that I literally used to sit and talk to all night as young girl. I saw the shift happen slowly over the years from skyping while we lived in the same house our last two years of high school to only communicating via texts for years at a time. Holding on to the title of best friend became a label of habit because that's what we'd been for years. We went from being friends in real life to pen pals. This disconnect is what is killing our social skills. We'd rather text than communicate and I believe that this lack of communication is what causing friendships/relationships end.
The disconnect of humanity has developed in this current era of technology and social media. As quickly as we engulf technology, there's always something new waiting to follow. It's literally getting to a point when we can't enjoy our phones without a new one coming out in a few months to replace it. How crisp does the camera on an iPhone really have to be? Most of our industries have become overly saturated. From professional photographer to iPhone photography, a lot of the art forms that were once enjoyed heavily have become nearly non existent or not respected as they once were. Sometimes I feel like technology has simplified all the wrong things. I can remember a time when I'd rush to go buy the latest cd and now everything is available by stream. I honestly can't remember the last time I physically purchased a cd. There used to be something about listening to a cd to the point where songs began to skip. A new album comes out and suddenly it's on to the next. Everything has become so rapid and sometimes it feels like artist only care about putting out a hot new viral track than creating a classic full body of work. $5 and $10 mixed cds from the corner store used to be not just a thing, but "The Thing". I used to have a friend named Carlos in middle school who used to make me the best mixed ads for $1. Dance battles in my living room with my friends made my weekend sleepovers enjoyable.
At this point we can do just about anything on a phone, but why do we need to? It's almost like we've been reduced to phones and not people because we'd rather be plugged into the wrong things than the present moment. Earlier this year during a ride home, a friend began freaking out when I tried to throw my iPhone out of the window and another friend began to get worried when I said I was turning my phone off. What I realized from those two situations is that people want to stay connected without really connecting. In all honesty, I believe getting rid of my iPhone was one of the best things I've done this year because it taught me so much. Of course I miss the cute selfies, but how many selfies can you have of yourself at this point? The reality is that even when disconnected, the world still goes on without skipping a beat and life still happens. A few weeks ago I unfriended my entire Facebook buddy list. Prior to last year, my page was deactivated until extended family members said they wanted to keep in touch. Having an open social media page doesn't keep you in touch, bhaving open lines of real communication does.
People constantly throw out how much they miss you so much nowadays, but how many times do they actually come out to see you? Who really takes the time to drive out and make sure that you're doing well? When a person says they're moving away, the first thing people like to say is "we should hang before you go". Why? There's probably been months and years that've probably went by that a person has been available when nobody checked for them. When a person dies, however, everybody that turned their back are probably the first ones crying over the casket. This year I was in the hospital for over 72 hours against my will. I was manhandled by male staff members and given medication that I had an allergic reaction. While in that hospital I didn't eat for over 72 hours and I barely slept. I literally feared for my life as I saw how the hospital staff were treating the other patients and all I could do was ask for a bible while praying that I made it out safely. I had allergic reaction to the medication the gave me against my will and my feet swelled bigger than I've ever seen them in my life. For weeks, I had the worst chest pains and I felt like I was dying. As hard of a time as I'd been having in my life recently, I couldn't give anyone the satisfaction of reducing me to a hashtag. Honestly, if I would've died I think I would've resurrected from the dead if I would've saw anybody trying to create a go fund me to give me a funeral when barely anybody donated to the go fund me pages I made for my first book. With the increase of people passing away lately, I've noticed this trend of trying to come together in the end after it's too late. We have to start valuing people while their alive and stop waiting till their dead to celebrate them.
In the last 3 months, I haven't saw or talked to anyone that I was "close" to for years. During that time, a new friendship has formed with a person that I met in college who I never really talked to before this year. The crazy thing is my new friend has dropped by to my new apartment more times than my previous friends and family. I believe our mental wellness has been affected by how much we've disconnected from the now. The support system and values that we once thrived on have become non existent in today's society. My generation has become more and more anti social isolating themselves from the real world and staying captivated by an alternate reality that doesn't truly exist within social media. I wonder what would happen if internet, television, streaming, and phone companies shut off for one week. I bet so many people would lose their minds because they'd rather be distracted by technology then tune in fully to reality. We've been distracted for too long and I think that it's time that we start tuning in to one another. If you miss someone, go visit them- scratch calling them because sometimes people just need you to be present with them. Stop being so overly indulged in your own lives and ask people if they need to talk. It's time to take off the filter and just be fully authentic people again.
I've noticed that with the rise of social media, the millennial generation has also lost a lot of social skills. The shift came rapidly from instant messenger to texting each other. Most of us have turned into introverts myself included for a period, but there was once a time when we communicated differently. I can remember rushing home in middle school with my best friend and calling boys on my mom's office phone or even staying on three way all night with my friends. I don't even know what we used to to talk about for four and five hours, but the conversation kept flowing. There was a time when we actually knew our friends and not just the exterior of a person. People don't talk to each other anymore and instead of communicating fully we've begun a habit of just shutting out. A couple of months ago, a person who I once called friend hung up in my face to text me when I was going through a really difficult time and wanted to talk to her. This was a friend that I literally used to sit and talk to all night as young girl. I saw the shift happen slowly over the years from skyping while we lived in the same house our last two years of high school to only communicating via texts for years at a time. Holding on to the title of best friend became a label of habit because that's what we'd been for years. We went from being friends in real life to pen pals. This disconnect is what is killing our social skills. We'd rather text than communicate and I believe that this lack of communication is what causing friendships/relationships end.
The disconnect of humanity has developed in this current era of technology and social media. As quickly as we engulf technology, there's always something new waiting to follow. It's literally getting to a point when we can't enjoy our phones without a new one coming out in a few months to replace it. How crisp does the camera on an iPhone really have to be? Most of our industries have become overly saturated. From professional photographer to iPhone photography, a lot of the art forms that were once enjoyed heavily have become nearly non existent or not respected as they once were. Sometimes I feel like technology has simplified all the wrong things. I can remember a time when I'd rush to go buy the latest cd and now everything is available by stream. I honestly can't remember the last time I physically purchased a cd. There used to be something about listening to a cd to the point where songs began to skip. A new album comes out and suddenly it's on to the next. Everything has become so rapid and sometimes it feels like artist only care about putting out a hot new viral track than creating a classic full body of work. $5 and $10 mixed cds from the corner store used to be not just a thing, but "The Thing". I used to have a friend named Carlos in middle school who used to make me the best mixed ads for $1. Dance battles in my living room with my friends made my weekend sleepovers enjoyable.
At this point we can do just about anything on a phone, but why do we need to? It's almost like we've been reduced to phones and not people because we'd rather be plugged into the wrong things than the present moment. Earlier this year during a ride home, a friend began freaking out when I tried to throw my iPhone out of the window and another friend began to get worried when I said I was turning my phone off. What I realized from those two situations is that people want to stay connected without really connecting. In all honesty, I believe getting rid of my iPhone was one of the best things I've done this year because it taught me so much. Of course I miss the cute selfies, but how many selfies can you have of yourself at this point? The reality is that even when disconnected, the world still goes on without skipping a beat and life still happens. A few weeks ago I unfriended my entire Facebook buddy list. Prior to last year, my page was deactivated until extended family members said they wanted to keep in touch. Having an open social media page doesn't keep you in touch, bhaving open lines of real communication does.
People constantly throw out how much they miss you so much nowadays, but how many times do they actually come out to see you? Who really takes the time to drive out and make sure that you're doing well? When a person says they're moving away, the first thing people like to say is "we should hang before you go". Why? There's probably been months and years that've probably went by that a person has been available when nobody checked for them. When a person dies, however, everybody that turned their back are probably the first ones crying over the casket. This year I was in the hospital for over 72 hours against my will. I was manhandled by male staff members and given medication that I had an allergic reaction. While in that hospital I didn't eat for over 72 hours and I barely slept. I literally feared for my life as I saw how the hospital staff were treating the other patients and all I could do was ask for a bible while praying that I made it out safely. I had allergic reaction to the medication the gave me against my will and my feet swelled bigger than I've ever seen them in my life. For weeks, I had the worst chest pains and I felt like I was dying. As hard of a time as I'd been having in my life recently, I couldn't give anyone the satisfaction of reducing me to a hashtag. Honestly, if I would've died I think I would've resurrected from the dead if I would've saw anybody trying to create a go fund me to give me a funeral when barely anybody donated to the go fund me pages I made for my first book. With the increase of people passing away lately, I've noticed this trend of trying to come together in the end after it's too late. We have to start valuing people while their alive and stop waiting till their dead to celebrate them.
In the last 3 months, I haven't saw or talked to anyone that I was "close" to for years. During that time, a new friendship has formed with a person that I met in college who I never really talked to before this year. The crazy thing is my new friend has dropped by to my new apartment more times than my previous friends and family. I believe our mental wellness has been affected by how much we've disconnected from the now. The support system and values that we once thrived on have become non existent in today's society. My generation has become more and more anti social isolating themselves from the real world and staying captivated by an alternate reality that doesn't truly exist within social media. I wonder what would happen if internet, television, streaming, and phone companies shut off for one week. I bet so many people would lose their minds because they'd rather be distracted by technology then tune in fully to reality. We've been distracted for too long and I think that it's time that we start tuning in to one another. If you miss someone, go visit them- scratch calling them because sometimes people just need you to be present with them. Stop being so overly indulged in your own lives and ask people if they need to talk. It's time to take off the filter and just be fully authentic people again.
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