I was reading this article earlier and it made me think about a few things.Things are a lot different then what they used to be. I often feel older then 20 years old when I think about how different times are now, especially with the use of technology. About once or twice a week I receive a Facetime call from my 12 year old cousin. He tells how school is going and how difficult his life is as a 6th grader. We often talk about his so called "love life" where he describes to me the struggles of his relationships. It often makes me think about those good days, where we had to pass notes in the back of the class, or even fight my sister for use of the house phone. Those memories often make me laugh but them I'm brought back to reality listening to him and his "new age" problems. I sit there and I listen to him talk about how she didn't like his new photo on instagram, or even worse, how he's too nervous to talk to her in class so he just sends her text. Then from listening to these problems it hits me. Kids today don't know what its like to have a good child hood. What are the memories for these kids gonna be? When I think back to my life as a 12 year old it was the best times form me in the world. Some of my best times were walking to the park after school and playing basketball, or walking the girl I had a crush on home. What is my little cousin going to have to look back on? A bunch of likes on a picture he will probably delete in a week anyway.
I am not fully against this new age of technology and social media. I am a sophomore in college now and it impacts my life greatly. The internet is a huge source of information that makes learning easier and more efficient. Being originally from North Carolina, social media like twitter helps me check on the things that are going on in my hometown almost instantly. But with this being said, social media is being abused in my opinion. I can remember going home for the summer. I decided to surprise my little cousin and pick him up from school that day. I picked him up thinking he would want me to drop him off at the park or the recreation center so he could hang out like his friends the way I used to. He told me to take him home so he could play xbox. When I asked about his friends he said he could Facetime them later.
Social Media has done great things for use as the human race. It has brought people together whether its religous groups, or family members across the world. It has given us instant access to just about all information at our fingers tips whether it is sports scores or presidential debates. However, the abuse of this technology is taking away from our most important traits as humans. It is taking away from our communication. It is hurt our culture as young kids, like my cousin, do not even know how to hold conversations anymore. These advances in technology is great, but it scares me when my 12 year old cousin has a girlfriend that he has not had a face to face conversation with yet. Something has to be done.
http://www.toptensocialmedia.com/social-media-social-buzz/10-pros-and-cons-of-social-media/
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