Social media has made us a nation of zombies. One just has to look at everybody carrying around their phones, tablets, laptops, or whatever. The fact is that we are all addicted to it. Like a drug, we all get a rush from anything that may (or not) show up on our devices.
Sure, social media is helpful for work purposes. You do not want to miss that email or text from the boss with your next assignment or berating for a poor job. It does help us to keep in touch with loved ones who may live a great distance away.
However, it does become intrusive. People no longer speak with one another anymore because they have become so absorbed in their gadgets. So, in some regards, social media is also separating ourselves than bringing us together. Talk about a dichotomy!
Let’s face it, some people would rather be engaged with their gadgets as opposed to having to speak with their children or significant other and vice versa. This seems especially true of teens. My daughter, who just turned four years-old, has an iPad where she watched her cartoons. Of course, it is a YouTube channel gear towards kids. However, when she starts watching the rest of the world can go to hell. My wife and I have to sometimes scream at her to get her attention, that is how engrossed my daughter is with her programs.
Bill Maher had an interesting take on this on his recent New Rules segment. I agree with his assessment that social media, i.e. Facebook Google, et al, is the new drug out there just like cigarettes were an addiction in our parents generation (smoking is still an addiction but it seems as if the younger generations are smoking less).
This also go me to think to the days before social media. When kids would not be glued to the television playing video games and playing with their phones. No, kids would go outside and actually play! My friends and I would always meet up at the local field to play baseball or play hockey on the street in front of our homes. Yes, kids were actually active at one time.
Now… All they want to do is stay home and play the latest version of Call to Duty. Seriously? No wonder no one takes the younger generation seriously anymore. Along with all the advances in technology, humans have become more lethargic. So, it is no wonder why so many people are obese. That is story for another time.
The fact is that social media has turned us into the walking dead because like zombies it is eating away our brains. One can only imagine what George Romero would have come up with for this. Tech of the Living Dead perhaps.
New World Observations 