Bzz. Bzz. Bzz. Incoming text messages fly in from all over as we seem to hold more conversations than we can humanly handle. Trillions of messages are sent each year on our cellular devices and that number is still increasing. Although I am an active user of my iPhone, I am beginning to worry about the methods in which we communicate.
Communicating through our devices may be very convenient, but I feel it is taking away from the genuineness in life. Instead of smiling at strangers and interacting with new people, we seem to be falling deeper into the well of our technology. Not only are we wasting a plethora of time on social media platforms, but we are losing face-to-face interaction. Technology may be a useful tool in various situations, but even FaceTime doesn’t stack up to the personal interaction we long for. The presence of the individual in which we interact with is such a crucial aspect of communication, yet we seem to be driving farther and farther away from that. The art of communication, and yes I believe it is an art, has become too casual. Interacting with the individuals of our choice should bring a sense of excitement to our lives and the forms of connecting through technology drain that.
I once heard a Professor exclaim, “Get off your phone and talk to the cute girl across from you!” Although this statement is comical, it holds some serious value. I often wonder about all of the life-changing, authentic conversations I have missed over the years because I have been glued to my phone. How many friendships have I missed out on because I am curled up in a corner editing a photo? How many conversations did I cut short in order to send a few meaningless emojis?
This topic has been weighing heavily on my mind and I want to bring awareness to the direction in which our communication is headed. I want to challenge every individual that reads this article to embrace organic communication and take it upon themselves to practice it. Each day, form a habit of engaging in 3–5 conversations without any form of technology. Just you, another human, and your complex minds to expand upon your topic of choice. Organic communication is being erased from our society and it is time to inject it back into our everyday lives.
~Stay Golden and Thanks for Reading~
Originally published at medium.com