HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-08-12, Page 5Wednesday, August 12, 2015 • Huron Expositor 5
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Is social media making us less social?
Have you ever had
someone tell you
that social media
is making us less social? I
have, and I don't get it.
How can something
designed to connect peo-
ple push them further
apart?
The argument goes like
this: We're so involved in
our phones, tablets and
monitors that we don't
talk to people face-to-
face as often. Some go so
far as to say we prefer to
talk to people online
rather than in real life? Is
this true?
While there is some
truth to this belief, I think
it's a bit shortsighted.
Sure a lot of people are
guilty of checking Face -
book or Twitter during a
conversation or while
friends or family are in
the room, but what are
they doing on those sites?
They're engaging with
people. They're being
social while they're being
social. It's a bit rude, but
there it is. Facebook and
Twitter haven't stopped
us from connecting
they've changed the way
Column
Matt Recker
we connect. How many
people could you call
friends before social
media? How many can
you call after? Social
media is not just a way to
talk to people we already
know it's a great way to
meet people and form
new relationships.
About a year ago I met
Alex and Sydney. The
couple played the game
Dota together and I met
them through random
matchmaking in the
game. They were good
players, friendly, funny
and I loved playing with
them. I quickly added
both to my friends list on
Steam, a video game plat-
form for PC with social
media elements. We
played and talked for
months and our relation-
ship went from Steam to
Facebook, then from
Facebook to Skype. It's
been over a year since I
met Alex and Sydney and
I still talk to them every
day and consider them
two of my best friends.
The problem is, Alex and
Sydney live in North Car-
olina and I live in Can-
ada. We've never met face
to face yet I consider
them dear friends, this
would not be possible
without social media.
How can social media be
making us less social
when people can become
friends with people in
other countries?
But beyond that social
media plays a big role in
maintaining friendships.
Take my friend Andrew
Schweitzer for example. I
met Andrew in my first
year of college in 2008
and he moved three prov-
inces away from me to
Calgary a couple years
after graduation. Nor-
mally two people would
stop socializing in that
time, but now with social
media and its ability to
connect people across
any distance Andrew and
I talk more than ever. We
chat, share stories and
comment on things.
Without social media this
would not be possible.
We would be relegated to
e-mails or texting, if we
still managed to talk at all.
I think this "we're
becoming less social"
stance is a gut reaction.
We see someone at a
computer or on their
phone and think they
should be out talking to
friends. Technology is
making us more iso-
lated," but stop and
think: how often did we
spend time with our
friends in the same room
before social media, and
has that changed since?
Facebook and Twitter
wasn't a thing when I
was in high school. I
think Myspace was
around but nobody used
it yet. I would go to my
friend's house to play
video games or watch a
movie about once a
week. Nowadays it's
about the same. Every
week I either go to a
friends house, go out
with them somewhere
for a drink, see a movie,
go for coffee or just
hangout. Keep in mind
now I live on my own
and have a car so I have
much more freedom
than I did back then. So
not only has my face-to-
face time with friends
remained about the
same, I talk to friends
every single day through
Facebook. People I see in
real life, people I rarely
see and people I've never
been in the same room
with.
So does social media
really make us less
social? Well it doesn't
for me. I can't speak for
anyone else but the way
I see it, if social media is
keeping you from
Corrections
socializing with friends
and family than the
problem lies with you,
not with the medium.
While it's not a perfect
system think of how
many connections
you'd have with people
without it? Think of all
the high school and col-
lege friends that have
moved away that you
would have lost contact
with. Think about the
family in other coun-
tries, the ex -girlfriends
and boyfriends that
you're still friends with
and think of the people
living thousands of
miles away that you
would never have met
otherwise. Think of all
those people and tell
me technology makes
you more isolated.
Last week, we had a letter to the editor as an edito-
rial, which it should not have been. Sorry about the confu-
sion. Also there was two of the same letters to the editor.
For future references we encourage resi-
dents to submit letters to the editor, but they must
have a name attached to them. Thank you.
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