There we sat, silent, as our professor worked to prepare his PowerPoint for the class.
There was no side conversation. No chitchat. Just the mashing of cell phone buttons.
Why have we resorted to such impersonal ways of socializing? What is our existence when we are not connected to WI-FI?
There exists this desire to add anyone and everyone on Facebook as a friend, even if you do not consider them a friend. It just seems to happen.
You go to a party that you were invited to on Facebook, talk to someone once and look them up on the social media directory. It just seems so natural, right?
I know that I am not a saint when it comes to impersonal social media. Honestly, I consider myself to be a social networking fiend.
However, if I add someone who I have not actually met in person, I will make a point of meeting them.
It’s a sort of “Catfish” approach, but I have met some really cool people doing this. The danger exists when the person you meet is nothing like what they show online.
I have had many instances in which I could not recognize the person I had been talking to for so long because they look nothing like their profile picture. So, do I really even know that person?
It feels great when someone recognizes you. Don’t hide who you are just for your online friends. Be someone that people can recall.
If possible, wear an artifact that is a testament to who you are. This opens the door for conversation with strangers.
In one situation, there was a girl wearing a key necklace. I thought this was cool and there was time before class, so I took the initiative and made a new friend.
Not only that, but I learned a little bit about the Buddhist religion and world wars along the way. This girl was a fountain of knowledge and experience.
Also, an indirect danger comes when adding people you don’t really know. One may add someone based on their profile picture, biography, mutual friends or mutual “likes.”
What this does is keep a person in the same loop, the same social network and philosophies they had before and leaves no room for intellectual growth.
We live in a world where we choose our music tastes to a “T.” If we don’t like a song, we down-vote it and so we never have to hear it again.
We see certain movies based on reviews and not our own curiosity. We meet and converse with people who have the same political views as us and do not challenge our way of life.
Tell me, where exists room for growth when the only conversations that are had are ones in which two people agree with each other constantly? How are we supposed to have conviction if our beliefs are never tested?
How are we supposed to have self-worth only “if this status gets 10 likes?”
To the person texting away before class, I urge you put your phone down and talk to your neighbor. Talk about the class, what you think of it and maybe how goofy your professor is.
To the person walking around with their headphones blaring, press pause and enjoy what is around you. The melting pot that is Bowling Green State University offers so many different points of view and philosophies.
There is a wealth of experience and wisdom inside each person. You will never uncover that if your noise-cancelling headphones won’t let you hear what other people are saying.
Respond to Stephan at
