We wake up every morning to our cellphone alarms, quickly swiping through our social media streams before rolling out of bed. Throughout the day we’re tethered to our iPads and smartphones, posting about everything from the awful transit system to the fern-shaped latte art. Even though this behaviour is wildly mocked and critiqued (case in point: check out this AT&T commercial), we’re all guilty of it from time to time.
It reminds me of a quote from Crash:
“It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.”
Nowadays, we’ve gone way beyond the metal and the glass. Why are we so afraid to peel off some self-protective layers and be vulnerable with those around us?
The world is certainly shrinking. I know what that guy from Australia I met five years ago is up to, although I haven’t talked to him since we were in Sydney. However, there is something to be said about our inability to focus on what’s immediately in front of us. We have become less tactile and less responsive. Just watch people when they are waiting in line and you’ll see it. Instead of talking with the people around them many are glued to their phones, unaware of what’s going on in the world at large. I’m not pointing fingers here. I’m guilty of it too.
Kids are less susceptible to this. The moment something colourful, glittery, and bouncy catches their eye, they’re out there chasing it. So if a random ball pit shows up in the middle of the street… no problem. Kids will hop into there without a second thought.
Would YOU?
This is a great video from Soul Pancake. Far beyond a mere social psychology experiment, it allows you and me to to break down the metal and the glass that we are hiding behind. It allows us to tell SOMEONE, not an “update your status” bar, what our dreams and secrets are — however ludicrous or embarrassing they may be. The initial awkwardness is a cherry on top. The broken down barriers are pure gold.
When I graduated from high school I wanted to make sure that I never lost the child within. Beneath the photo of a cheesy grin in my cap and gown, I put a quotation from George Bernard Shaw, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
Make it personal:
Are video chat systems harming our teens?
Does social media feed your craving for closeness and intimacy?
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