Technology, keeping people in touch without actually having to stay in touch.

With all the new forms of social technology being introduced into society, it is becoming more and more acceptable for people to do the minimum in maintaining a relationship with someone without having to go through the traditional means of maintaining that relationship. Before social media really took off, people actually had to pick up the phone and make an effort to see people for them to stay in your life. Now all it takes is a random reply back to a tweet to let a person know you still think about them. One of my biggest pet peeves is when you call someone and instead of answering the phone, they text you back. If what I wanted to tell you could be said in a text, don’t you think I would have just texted you? The reason I’m calling is to hear your voice and add that personal element back to our relationship. People are using text messaging and other forms of social media to handle serious situations or get their feelings out, when what they need to do is pick up the phone and talk out their problems. This is why our generation is so full of miscommunication and misunderstandings. The problem with social media is that there is no one way to interpret a tweet or text. It is solely based on the receiver of the message or if the occasional “lol” has been thrown in, then perhaps the tone is a little more playful. If people don’t learn to start using social media in moderation, face to face communication will be a thing of the past. The whole concept of person to person interaction will be a thing of the past; a life of solitude with some occasional uproar.