"Sociably Unsociable"

I live in a world where its the norm to communicate through screens. We work on screens, study on screens, celebrate birthdays on screens, attend social events on screens......so much that when I do meet up with someone in person I pinch myself as though I am in a dream. More importantly I wanted to share my thoughts on the concept of social media, drawing emphasis on the 'Social' aspect of this medium.

The cambridge dictionary describes the meaning of social as relating to 'society and the way people live.' I must confess, it is not my desire to socialise through mediums which take away the values of human interaction. See, social media has its pro's but we also witness that it holds its "cons". Its too common to walk by someone on the street, in a cafe, on the train or even in your own home, witnessing the obsession with the medium which has enslaved many of us. I worry for the younger generation as they become so addicted to the new normal and cannot even hold decent conversations. My question is how do we unlearn the habits that have transformed the new order? How do we relearn the strength of human interaction? How do we create a healthy balance with humanity vs social media?

The breakdown in human interaction has worsened during the pandemic and statistics have identified the harmful effects of excess social media exposure on mental health. We are exposed to a WORLD WIDE WEB full of a pool of good and bad information. I believe this freedom has led to the miseducation of many innocent lives. Children have been exposed to content which are not meant for their age, the vulnerable are taken advantage of and many other individuals have ingested negatively constructed information. If the age limits on social media sites do no prohibit children from signing up to their sites (because its so easy to lie about ones age), then how do we keep them safe? I believe we are so deep into this newly evolved order, it would create havoc to UNDO this.

So what do we do now? Do we just accept what is and become Sociably - Unsociable or do we challenge the status quo and get back to the way God create us to interact with each other? I say the latter, because there is nothing like a hug when you're feeling low, a shoulder to cry on when life gets too hard and a hand to hold when you need a helping hand. I believe there needs to be more awareness of how to live a balanced life with social media. I also believe we need to do more to protect our children and the vulnerable. Lets not give up on humanity and let us remind ourselves that we were first human 'beings' before we were social 'beings.'