How is it that so many of us have hundreds of Facebook friends but still find ourselves lonely?
That’s the question asked by British writer and director Gary Turk in a new video that’s going viral.
The spoken word video, which has over 36 million views already on YouTube, reflects on our obsession with finding new, techy ways to connect with one another at the expense of our real-life relationships — and makes a compelling argument for switching off social media every now and then and looking up.
(Of course, the ironic thing here is that watching the video is making people do the opposite.)
Take a look here:
Do you think we’re trading social media for real-life friendships?
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At the moment its smartphones. Back when I was growing up, it was TV. When my mum was young, it was listening to the radio during dinner that was killing family time. Yes, when I was growing up I was out playing with friends, roaming around etc but my, and my friends, parents used to have 'home only' days because we were 'missing family time' by being out all the time. When I was a teenager, I was told I was hanging out with my friends to the point of ignoring everything else. There is always *something*. Every new development in technology is supposedly the end of human interaction as we know it. There is always some reason we are missing out on something. Smartphones, social media etc are no different.
But I'll say this - if not for social media, I wouldn't be with my partner. I know many others who are the same. When i had my first baby there was no social media or smartphones etc, and I was a lot more lonely than I was with the third, when I had facebook and text messages to keep in touch with my friends and family if I couldn't leave the house. My son knows a lot more than I did at his age, because if he asks something and I don't know the answer, I can google it for him right then and there. My parents who live ages away don't miss their grandkids growing up because of facebook photos and skype. Ive gotten back in touch with old friends I wouldn't have been able to otherwise because they found me on social media. People are encouraged to have a more global mindset because we can be in touch with people on the other side of the world, or hear opinions and situations of people we haven't met.
Neither situation - pre or post smartphones and social media - are better or worse than the other. They are just different means of doing the same thing. Teenagers used to spend hours on the phone to eachother, now they just send texts or FB messages instead. Same thing. We used to write letters, now we send emails. Only now I don't have to buy stamps or wait til I can get to a post office. Sure, if you're addicted to your smartphone to the point you can go whole days not having a conversation with anyone that is a problem. But the message in this video is nothing new - people are always bemoaning the state of society and blaming whatever the newest form of technology is. I would be missing a lot more without the technology I have access to now than I am with it tbh.
A teacher told me once technology is great, your generation will need to learn how to use it, embrace it but know when to put it to one side.