I know you’ve read the stories about how the girl who looks the coolest on social media has a pretty unhappy life, but the thing is, they’re not all just stories. It’s all just a show we put on for our followers, and before we know it, we are competing to be cooler than the next person based on the photos, comments, and messages that we post. But why do we care so much?
The lives that our parents lived were so much different and so much more meaningful. They were able to share happy memories without hiding behind a camera to document the whole thing. They were able to have a face-to-face conversation with someone without getting interrupted by a text message every 2 minutes. They were able to catch up with friends and have meaningful relationships rather than learning about their lives through social media.
This is why, although I can’t say that I’m an exception to caring about my image and hiding behind my phone, because I’m not, I often find myself wishing that I lived in a different time.
Think about it – we base our Saturday night plans on how and where we’ll get the best Instagram photo. We spend some of our most exciting moments behind a phone; when is the last time you went to a concert or any other event and actually enjoyed it, rather than spending your time hiding behind your phone, taking videos and photos for Snapchat the whole time? If we lived in another generation, we would simply enjoy the moment and make memories.
There is no element of surprise or hint of mystery in our lives because all we have to do is go on social media and see what anyone is doing at any time. Where’s the fun in that?! I want to live in a world where FOMO doesn’t exist because we don’t know about every little moment that we are missing out on.
Social Media isn’t the 21st Century’s only downfall. I know you’re probably tired of hearing people say “chivalry is dead,” especially the older generations, but it’s hard to disagree.
Do you ever watch the movies Grease and Footloose and wish that you could dance like that and have a genuinely fun time rather than looking around on the weekends to see people ‘grinding’ all over the bar? Not to mention, that’s exactly how we meet people these days – on the dance floor of Jimmy T’s, or whatever your school’s bars are called. When’s the last time you went on a date (and I mean BEFORE you hooked up)? The world is changing, in a lot of ways for the better, but our generation needs to wake up and smell the roses.
I know we’re all fortunate in a lot of ways to live in such an advanced time, but don’t you ever look at black and white photos of your grandparents and think about what their lives were like?