THE INTERNET

     As time goes by, I realize more and more how human interaction has decreased due to a majority of the population always looking down at their cell phones. From public transportation, in the line at the grocery store, walking down the street, and even driving down the road. Nobody seems to make eye contact with one another, or even hold there heads up for that matter!

     Sherry Turkle's video, "Connected, But Alone?" explains the sad truth about how disconnected we are to one another anymore. I think she explains perfectly how technology today is creating an environment of seclusion and causing our children to lack in basic communication skills that are necessary, even in a world where technology has provided us with alternate means of communication. For example: when a group of friends get together, nobody is talking to one another. Instead, they are all looking down at their phones, completely ignoring each other. It's a personal pet peeve of mine to be talking with someone and they won't put their phone down. I find it rude and disrespectful. What happened to eye contact during conversations? For this reason, I make it a point to not be on my phone when spending valuable time with the people I care about. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter... none of these things are of importance when you sacrifice valuable time with someone that you will never again be able to retrieve. I find it most entertaining when people take a picture with you to post as a status update that they're having such a great time.... yet they are actually looking at their phone the entire time, off in a different place. These examples show our children how life is lived. We are showing our children that social media and digital games are more important to us then actually spending to together. This generation of children are losing the valuable skills of actually communication with each other in person, not just via media. 

     I like to group the concept of digital gaming with that of social media. They are both amazing at distracting our attention and requiring us to ignore the world around it. Sure, it's great when you need to kill some time, but not as an every spare second distraction. I won't lie. I, too, have a game on my phone. Yes, just one. Yes, you guessed it... Candy Crush! It's a game that, when needed, helps me to kill a few minutes. Sometimes this is while waiting in the car for someone, or, the most common need, while waiting for my sister to get ready to go somewhere. The most appealing aspect of this game is that I can just close out of it at any time and it doesn't matter. I may lose a turn, but I don't have to get to a stopping point. I don't need to tell anyone I'm playing against that I need to go. Nothing. When my spare few minutes of boredom has ended, so has my game.

     Honestly, I like to keep my attention in the real world. The physical world. I much rather live my life through actions then through a persona I create about myself online. I can't say I spend a lot of time on any social networking site or on digital games. A rough estimate of the amount of time I spend in a week on these activities is about 2 hours total. Even that is too much for my liking. Social media is merely a means of resources for planning my adventure trips, which I try to do weekly. I run out of ideas of new places to explore quite rapidly, so suggestions from others that enjoy the same activities is extremely helpful. During those lonely smoke breaks, Candy Crush comes to use. That's where I like to end my online, digital gaming, social networking, ignore the world experience. 

     It's always intriguing to hear someone express their opposing point of views. Please feel free to leave comments on your opinions on the matter, or how these modern world communication sources affect your life. Would you like to change the role they play in your life?