As a twenty-something girl living in 2012, I could go on and on about the gripes I have with technology and how we have become so dependent on our constant online interactions that we've learned to expect less from actual human interactions. With all the technology attached to our fingertips 24/7, it seems as though there are a million new ways for us to stay in touch. Bbm, Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, texting...with so many connections to so many people, the definition of what is a real vs. photoshopped relationship gets harder and harder to figure out.
I can't tell you how many times I've gotten frustrated over stupid indiscretions with tech stuff. For my fellow crackberry addicts, there's bbm. Ah bbm...being able to read when someone receives and chooses to respond to a message is a gift and a curse. I'm on my Blackberry like a bee on honey (used to be at least...really starting to hate it now.) I'm always prompt to respond to whoever is messaging me, and I can't help but get irritated when people take their sweet ass time responding to simple things. Once you become a master bbm-er, you learn little knick-knacks of how to ignore a message all together, all the whilst reading the entire message without having the other party know (sneaky little assholes...come on now.) On a side note, the only thing worse than an unresponsive read message is when the message doesn't go through at all. Even at that circumstance, people will rather avoid picking up the phone and placing a simple call, instead reiterating the so called valid response of "the message didn't go through so I couldn't get a hold of you." The classic "I didn't check my phone" is also losing its merit. It's 2012, you're probably a proud owner of a Blackberry, iPhone, or Android -- you're checking your phone.
The time spent on perfecting our online personas has now become a definitive interpretation of who you are. We seem to be living in a world where "if it's not online, it's not happening in real life". Sure, a portion of it can be credited towards business and self-promotional purposes, but that doesn't change the fact that living edited online takes away from living in real life. It's amazing, yet pathetic how a picture that suffices on Facebook of the night's festivities or a tweet about how awesome the dinner you are at is makes the online version of yourself more admirable, and feelings of insecurities, envy and rejection arise from viewers who weren't present. This is especially apparent in the dating realm. Yes, guys are generally overly rational and not nearly as emotional as girls tend to be, but if you're proud to be with someone in real life, why wouldn't that translate into your online personality, especially when that's when so many people are exposed to you? Exactly. Spin it however you want, but it comes down to the root of all issues -- commitment, or the lack of really.
I'm clearly going through some communicative frustrations myself, resulting in this lengthy rant. Technology does its part in bringing us together, but it also stops us from feeling emotions with each other in person, as we share statuses and messages about feelings and (maybe) feel them after. It takes 30 seconds to send a message, and if you don't have 30 seconds for someone...well, that's something we want to know. For all of you reading this who can't understand why we make a fuss over the little things like Facebook, Twitter and bbm, allow me to clear it up for you: it is because we see it as an indicator of bigger things. When you care about someone and they can't seem to do little things for you, it's a sure sign they won't do bigger things for you either. So if you take one thing from my emotional vomit, answer your damn phone.
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