Friday 21 October 2011

Tech-No Nonsense

It’s always a crushing moment.

That time when you log into Facebook to no notifications. Or check your phone and have no messages after what seems like days since the last one.

And though I’d never claim to be addicted to either, it’s still a heart breaking blow when you realise you’ve been rejected by almost all the forms of media you possess.

But I’ve realised over the last week - when BBM broke down and the world temporarily ended for half the nation – that as a society we’re mad about technology. Stupidly obsessed.

Now don’t get me wrong, Facebook has its advantages when it comes to photo browsing and event inviting -and I’ve even started posting the occasional Tweet myself (a big move forward in the times for me) - but for the majority it’s all so much. Tweeting, posting, liking, tagging and Facebook ‘chatting’ have come to be etched into who we are.

It’s almost as tragic as when people spend hours dissecting each text or every technical action one person could possibly make. “He ‘poked’ me on Facebook, what does that mean?” Well congratulations, I clicked a button once too!

Our friendships, relationships and very personalities are now determined by what’s written in a status or hash tagged in 140 characters. It’s so shallow and meaningless! It’s ridiculous.

And when did we suddenly start needing all of this on our phones? It just takes the twitch of a thumb before you’re back in that social media world, floating around in cyber space.

There’s nothing more annoying than trying to have a conversation with a friend when their hand starts to wander towards their Blackberry and their eyes suddenly glaze over with that blue-ish haze of a screen. Don’t worry, I’ll just sit here and admire the real world while I wait!

I just love the value of real conversation and properly spending time with people. I love really laughing, not LOL. And I love real kisses, not ‘xxx’.

So, though @wilson_naomi is now on Twitter, and though I may even consider upgrading the LG brick I call a phone to a flashier model- I never want to be obsessed. I never want scrutinise every last message or Tweet the world my thoughts upon waking up in the morning.

I want the real world to just be real, and people to just be people!