Sunday evening while I sat in my living room with my fellow apartment mates and a former UAlbany undergrad that came to visit, we were all relaxing and having a great time. However, I noticed something peculiar. As we sat all together in one spot, literally in arms length of one another… we were all on our phone. Even more ironically as we sat, we were communicating with each other..ON OUR PHONES. This interchange properly defines the Social Media Culture that has developed society today.
Don’t get me wrong it’s not as if we weren’t physically talking to each other. However, whenever a moment of silence arose we all had phones in hand as if it were second nature. Some of us, myself included began to play a very addictive game known as “Trivia Crack” while others were probably browsing through their social media accounts. 
Ironically enough, during these same silent moments I found myself playing Trivia Crack against the person sitting next to me, ultimately sparking a whole new conversation afterwards. Thus the question arises, how deep does social media and digitization impact our daily human interactions?
According to a Forbes article written by Susan Tardanico,
“As human beings, our only real method of connection is through authentic communication. Studies show that only 7% of communication is based on the written or verbal word. A whopping 93% is based on nonverbal body language. Indeed, it’s only when we can hear a tone of voice or look into someone’s eyes that we’re able to know when “I’m fine” doesn’t mean they’re fine at all…or when “I’m in” doesn’t mean they’re bought in at all.”
In a world now where being up to date and connected to friends, colleagues, celebrities, etc, creates a stronger social hub than before, are we more connected, or as a result more disconnected than ever before? Yes we may find ourselves in consistent contact with one another via computer screen and phone pads, but is that as far as the well runs before it goes dry?
A few short centuries ago Tom Standage reminds us that the old Coffeehouse was the Facebook and Twitter of its time in Europe. Human interaction and the common core of today’s social media combined in one central spot. Fast forward to today, and we’re opening our laptops faster than we are our doors to allow folks to enter our lives. Now the most solid form of communication thanks to the advances in social media come in the form of online echo chambers where friends are determined based upon commonalities among one another that are displayed online.
Social media is a very resourceful tool in that it makes the flow of information so much more easier and accessible. However as the old adage goes, “nothing in excess,” can be applied. Humans are interactive creatures and it is within our genetic make up to seek out interactions. The interactions provided through technology are only temporary and would never truly fill the void of face to face interaction. That is why it is up to us, the consumer to ensure that we aren’t easily “wooed” by all the ways that social media interaction can captivate us. These are temporary, however human companionship is not… after all, we don’t marry our iPhones now do we?
If this didn’t convince you, gather your friends around, play Trivia Crack (yes this is me endorsing the game), and argue and bicker over it for the best of both worlds!
Oh Captain My Captain 