Social Isolation

Whenever you leave your house, dorm, apartment, or whatever, I'll bet anything the first thing you make sure you have is your phone. We have all grown up in a world where technology is the norm whether we like it or not, and where some people are more involved in their social profiles than they are with the people they're actually with.

This video went extremely viral and it's kind of ironic because it's saying that people should get off their phone and interact with others around them but then they share this video on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. to show others that they should get off their phone. However, it shows how important it is to actually engage in conversation with other people. It's not saying technology is bad, it's saying that we are becoming unsocial because of it. What catches me most about this video is that people are going to watch it and say, "Wow, that was super powerful, I really should get off my phone more I'm going to start doing that," and then the next day they'll be back on their phone. It's not their fault because in the world we live in today, technology is a necessity.

One of the first things we talked about in class was koine, engaging with strangers, and idia, being in our own world. Today we all live in our own world, especially us teenagers. I'll admit that there are times where I get really involved in something online, but now it's starting to make sense because I am 9 hours away from home and all of my friends went to different colleges. However, there are some people who are on their phone literally all the time. You see it on the street with people running into each other and you see it in restaurants when people are on dates. How are you supposed to get to know someone if you're too busy texting your friend about the hot person you're on a date with or live-tweeting the entire date? First of all, no one cares about your date and second of all you don't seem to either.

It's okay to be in our own world sometimes but it's important to remember that there is a world outside Facebook. We need to be able to interact with other people outside the internet because believe it or not, you probably won't impress an employer with a meme you created. Unless you're applying for some job that makes memes.

So the next time you're in class, out with friends, or just at home watching a video, think about how much time you're spending on your phone. If you're really daring (or just curious), there's an app called "Moment" that you can download and it tells you how much time you've spent on your phone. You may be surprised and actually put down your phone.