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!
Hey Rocco,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog. I felt you incorporated personal examples and research very well. I also share the sentitment you felt when you created your online identity, in my case i felt almost like what's the point of having these friends if i will never actually meet them? Thats why Facebook is so great mostly becuase we can communicate with people we know on an a very quick and everyday basis but like you said too much of one thing is never good. We have become so dependant on social media sites like Facebook that we loose touch of that face to face form of communication. But on the other hand when it comes to having a large group of people meet, or a small group for that matter, social media becomes such a great tool to do so. For example i recall seeing a case where the Owner of The Ultimate Fighting Championship was in Toronto and was going to give away free tickets to his event via twitter by giving out his exact location; within minutes a group of hundreds of people gathered to that location. Its incredible how through technology social media has advanced and how we as individuals come up with innovative ways to use social media to our advantage. Great blog!
My eleven year old son is obsessed with Xbox Live, specifically with the Halo series. He too can spend hours upon hours playing the game and taking part in live chats with others from different parts of the world. When I tell him to go and play with his friends his response is ‘he is playing with his friends’; funny how people he will never meet in his life he considers as friends.
ReplyDeleteI am not a big fan of these live video game forums, I think the constant online gaming interactions are making the younger generations socially awkward; because they spend such a great amount of time conversing with others through a headset they lack the basic face to face communication skills.
As for your ending comment, I think it’s right on, platforms such as Xbox Live should be used in moderation and not have it consume your whole life, it’s too bad that my son does not see it that way cause when I limit his usage I’m pretty sure I am viewed as the wicked witch of the west:)
Rocco,
ReplyDeleteI liked that you raised both pros and cons in your blog, and that you included statistics social media interactions , used pictures and shared your first encounter with socia media great way of illustratin g to your reader and to keep their interest! I do agree with you that social media has taken over our time, and more people are subjecting themselves to meeting online instead of the old "meet and greet", and that more and more people are gettinng addicted to social media sites , as myself lol.I agree that social media sites should be used in moderation and in the right way for progression within society.