I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. Social media commodifies and gamifies love & connection down into little heart icons and followers. But how can we put a metric on something that's actually immeasurable? It makes me want to grab a loved one's phone from their hands, chuck it off a mountain, and give them a big ol hug.
...we are a generation of pod people...if you live your life inside of a machine are you really living a life or is the machine?...we need a way to rebrand all the bull they sell us...myspace=theirspace...instagram=airbrushedphotosofmetiltingmyassacertainway...twitter=wheredreamsgotodie...there needs to be a revolution...
The tiny computers in our pockets are soooo freakin' useful--we can bank and take photos and read books and talk to loved ones, all in the same little device--yet we inevitably resort to cheap dopamine hits instead of bazillion useful or beautiful things we could be doing. Evolutionarily, I understand why this is, and yet I can't help but share your sadness about this.
I want to slap that woman in the hot pink blazer. WTF nothing to look at?! She probably loves watching unhinged reels. Also, I feel like every person I see who’s younger than me is on their phone when they’re with friends or family. Today, I saw 2 younger women in the park, taking influencer poses, followed by spending silent time on their phones next to each other. Um, hello, you’re in a beautiful park, take it in!!! I feel bad for that poor boy whose dad couldn’t even look up at his son. I’m sorry about your friend :(
I also hate seeing interior designs modeled around instagrammable selfie moments, like selfie or mural walls.
“looking around me, and seeing others so glued to the social media on their screens instead of what’s directly in front of them, kinda breaks my heart in a way I can’t explain. I know those instances aren’t the same thing. But it’s the consequences I still worry about.” I often wonder what the consequences will be as well. Social media relieves boredom too easily. And I’m concerned that the next generations will have a hard time connecting with others. I also relate to that unsettling feeling scrolling the feeds. But its also really easy to slip into a mindless scroll on the train, especially when I’m physically exhausted but my mind is still going.
"She literally morphed into fragments of strangers she had never met." <- that might just be the most perfect line to describe audience capture. Visceral. And the whole essay felt like reading a Black Mirror episode, which paints an accurate picture of the ways it can go wrong.
Obviously everyone talks from experience, and I think mine specifically is one where the positives outweigh the negatives. Aimlessly scrolling is literally what has me here writing this comment (by way of Twitter -> David Perell -> WoP), or what made me find a course that once executed changed the trajectory of my business. I have also wasted countless hours and had experiences where the other person can't seem to be present. I totally see all the bad ways it can go, and have myself tasted that medicine at times, but in the end, in my view and experience, I do think there's hope and a case to be made for healthy interaction with social media (we're interacting in one (so far) good example!).
Obviously hard, with lots of trials-and-errors, and in one of those trials the error can be so bad and almost irreversible as the cautionary tale your essay is, which is why it makes sense to keep close and reread it often!
This was so insanely well written. There’s so many pieces on the downsides of social media, but nothing has captured it the way you do here. I have such a low tolerance now for people who spend their whole time with me on social media. Not even dislike, just disinterested in wasting my time with people who can’t be present with me.
Once at the airport, I saw a dad on a dating app while his three kids and wife were right in front of him. Incredible the reach to connect while connection is waiting right in front of you.
This is such a sharp description of this cycle of emptiness: '[she] became influenced by influencers until she became one too.' Although I really don't know what I'm talking about ;)
"She literally morphed into fragments of strangers she had never met." BIG OOFT.
I feel a similar way about social media. I get so irritated when people look at their phones during dinner. I'm guilty of it when I'm commuting, often looking down at my phone when I'm ALREADY listening to a podcast -.-
WOP newbie here. Just binged through a lot of your home page. This one really hit home. Looking forward to more Sunday Candy.
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. Social media commodifies and gamifies love & connection down into little heart icons and followers. But how can we put a metric on something that's actually immeasurable? It makes me want to grab a loved one's phone from their hands, chuck it off a mountain, and give them a big ol hug.
...we are a generation of pod people...if you live your life inside of a machine are you really living a life or is the machine?...we need a way to rebrand all the bull they sell us...myspace=theirspace...instagram=airbrushedphotosofmetiltingmyassacertainway...twitter=wheredreamsgotodie...there needs to be a revolution...
The tiny computers in our pockets are soooo freakin' useful--we can bank and take photos and read books and talk to loved ones, all in the same little device--yet we inevitably resort to cheap dopamine hits instead of bazillion useful or beautiful things we could be doing. Evolutionarily, I understand why this is, and yet I can't help but share your sadness about this.
I want to slap that woman in the hot pink blazer. WTF nothing to look at?! She probably loves watching unhinged reels. Also, I feel like every person I see who’s younger than me is on their phone when they’re with friends or family. Today, I saw 2 younger women in the park, taking influencer poses, followed by spending silent time on their phones next to each other. Um, hello, you’re in a beautiful park, take it in!!! I feel bad for that poor boy whose dad couldn’t even look up at his son. I’m sorry about your friend :(
I also hate seeing interior designs modeled around instagrammable selfie moments, like selfie or mural walls.
“looking around me, and seeing others so glued to the social media on their screens instead of what’s directly in front of them, kinda breaks my heart in a way I can’t explain. I know those instances aren’t the same thing. But it’s the consequences I still worry about.” I often wonder what the consequences will be as well. Social media relieves boredom too easily. And I’m concerned that the next generations will have a hard time connecting with others. I also relate to that unsettling feeling scrolling the feeds. But its also really easy to slip into a mindless scroll on the train, especially when I’m physically exhausted but my mind is still going.
Thanks for sharing your insights =]
"She literally morphed into fragments of strangers she had never met." <- that might just be the most perfect line to describe audience capture. Visceral. And the whole essay felt like reading a Black Mirror episode, which paints an accurate picture of the ways it can go wrong.
Obviously everyone talks from experience, and I think mine specifically is one where the positives outweigh the negatives. Aimlessly scrolling is literally what has me here writing this comment (by way of Twitter -> David Perell -> WoP), or what made me find a course that once executed changed the trajectory of my business. I have also wasted countless hours and had experiences where the other person can't seem to be present. I totally see all the bad ways it can go, and have myself tasted that medicine at times, but in the end, in my view and experience, I do think there's hope and a case to be made for healthy interaction with social media (we're interacting in one (so far) good example!).
Obviously hard, with lots of trials-and-errors, and in one of those trials the error can be so bad and almost irreversible as the cautionary tale your essay is, which is why it makes sense to keep close and reread it often!
This was so insanely well written. There’s so many pieces on the downsides of social media, but nothing has captured it the way you do here. I have such a low tolerance now for people who spend their whole time with me on social media. Not even dislike, just disinterested in wasting my time with people who can’t be present with me.
This probably goes without saying, but I agree with everything you have said here. And of course, you said it in the most beautiful way possible.
Say it louder for the people in the back 👏
Once at the airport, I saw a dad on a dating app while his three kids and wife were right in front of him. Incredible the reach to connect while connection is waiting right in front of you.
This is such a sharp description of this cycle of emptiness: '[she] became influenced by influencers until she became one too.' Although I really don't know what I'm talking about ;)
"She literally morphed into fragments of strangers she had never met." BIG OOFT.
I feel a similar way about social media. I get so irritated when people look at their phones during dinner. I'm guilty of it when I'm commuting, often looking down at my phone when I'm ALREADY listening to a podcast -.-