This week I ran across two videos that you should watch. They paint a rather bleak view of technology and how it’s not really helping us become more connected. Not that this is the fault of technology. We are (I’m painting with broad strokes here) misusing technology.
The first is titled The Innovation of Loneliness. Based on Sherry Turkle’s book Alone Together (affiliate link), this video suggests that we are using social media to collect connections, rather engage in deeper, meaningful communication. We are curating our personal brand rather than interacting with transparency, openness and vulnerability.
The second video is titled I Forgot My Phone. It focuses on our fixation with these little devices that have invaded our every waking moment. What’s telling is the title itself. Is Charlene making a personal choice to not use her phone, or did she–as the title suggests–simply forget her phone?
In his book You Are Not a Gadget
Where are you on the social spectrum? Are social tools and technologies helping you build deeper, more meaningful connections? Or do these short videos ring true?
Brilliant.Right on the money!
A loser will never admit this. Society is on a downward spiral thanks to Facebook, Instagram , Twitter and other idiotic platforms.
So sick of the damn losers everywhere you look.
The sole reason why people use social media is because everyone wants an audience. People want to feel famous. The energy flows where the attention goes!
In reality most people like attention showered upon them now and again. The problem with social media is that such attention seeking has been taken to a whole new level.
Furthermore, nobody wants to feel like they’re missing out of anything – because to ‘miss out’ will alienate you from the ‘social community’ (insofar that it exists).
It all boils down to attention seeking at the end of the day (in it’s many forms and guises).
There is a quote which states: ‘Confidence is quiet, insecurities are loud’. People who use social media are essentially ‘loud’ because they want to let the world know their personal business/lifestyle. The reason they do this is because they are seeking positive feedback from others (in other words drawing attention towards themselves) as well as seeking validation (the approval of others for their efforts).
Confident is quiet because it’s fundamentally self-assured. It has no need to seek external validation because it’s own validation is sufficient.
Those who use social media are not losers in my opinion, just sad. Spending your life trying to impress others will quickly turn you in to a mouse on a treadmill. It will get you nowhere and will leave you feeling tired.
Get a grip and get a life because we are all heading for the grave ultimately.