A Social Revolution
Written by: Rocco Turco
It was the
summer of 2003 that I had my first taste of social media. As I had just
upgraded my internet speed and purchased a subscription to Xbox Live. I was
extremely excited to communicate and play with millions of gamers that I have
never met in person, but had a similar interest across the world. As I created
my online identity I felt as if I was remaking myself, a totally new person. I
spent hours on hours playing and making new friends. It was a great feeling,
but I felt there was something missing.
The ways that
the human race communicates have evolved vastly over time. From the tapping of
Morse code to the hand movements of sign language, and now text, pictures and
video from all over the world literally at your finger tips and across a
computer screen. Now it has become even more. Billions of people including
myself own a cell phone and pc. Using these devices we can access the internet
and communicate with friends and family in seconds. It’s amazing really. I
would consider this to be just the beginning of the social revolution.
An example of an online social
networking site is facebook. I find myself
checking my facebook at least twice a day to accept new friend requests, check
out my buddy’s new car, chat or even meet new friends. As amazing as all of this
seems I find myself at a miss. Although we can easily communicate with friends
and family, I feel as if the intimacy of meeting someone face to face has been
totally forgotten and taken for granted. I know this is not just my opinion
either. Although I might find cons about social media, there are also plenty of
pros. One being what I am doing at this very moment, blogging. I can share my
opinion with the world and have it heard (or read to be exact). Online banking,
learning, leisure and pleasure. So many good things can be wrought.
So
the question arises; is this current generation of social media and society just
a fad or the greatest thing since sliced bread? Of course only time will tell
but in my opinion if we continue the way we are we are only leading ourselves
to a revolution that will turn us into emotionless computer chair ridden slaves
(joking of course). On a serious note I believe that social media is here to
stay. If we use it for all the right things we can make some really good progress
in future prospects. So on an ending note; too much of one thing is never good.
Use it in moderation. Or at least that’s what I tell myself!
