This week, Ms. Valentino showed us an awesome piece of poetry(Check it out, I posted it on the left). The poem was about how through the use of technology we lose the ability to connect with one another and I totally agree. There is something special about communicating with people face to face. You really get to connect with people as you can see them for what they really are and not just what you want them to see.
What I mean is that when people post online, they only tell you what they want you to hear. They will post about their A in Calculus but won't mention their C in Chemistry. They are always aware of their digital footprint as they watch what they say as colleges, employers and the rest of the world is watching. As a result, they don't say what they truly mean and don't let their personality shine. My friends often use swear words for emphasis and they kind of allow me to see how frustrated or angry they are, but online, their english is impeccable and it sounds like their mothers washed the swear words out of their mouths with soap. They are almost completely different people online then the friends that I have come to love.
However, most importantly, there is also an emotional connection that you miss out on online. I believe that people can only truly connect in person. When talking, the way you convey your message is almost as important as your message itself. In person, I can hear the change in your tone, see you get excited and animated and am able to see things from your point of view. This is the reason why Presidential debates or any other debates are conducted in person and not over Skype. As humans, we pick up on things such as body language and tone and these are best observed in person. It is quite hard to explain but you just feel connected to people when you are in the same room. This week, a former Troy High Grad was in a car accident and is still in critical condition, and so after the football game, there was a candlelight vigil to pray for her. In that silence, everybody there just connected. It didn't matter that I was a Hindu and most of the people were Christian. Everybody there felt the same thing and just prayed.
Another example of this is in music. I find that in the acoustic version of songs you can truly feel what the artist is feeling. So below I included two video clips of OneRepublic's Song "Life in Color," which truly fits the theme of this blog. One is the acoustic clip taken in London and the other is taken of their album. If you listen to them, you can really feel the emotion in the acoustic clip and it sounds totally different from the studio produced version.
I hope that less emphasis is put on social networking and people realize how much better it is to interact with people in person. I don't want to be your facebook friend; I want to be your friend where it truly matters: in the real world.
What I mean is that when people post online, they only tell you what they want you to hear. They will post about their A in Calculus but won't mention their C in Chemistry. They are always aware of their digital footprint as they watch what they say as colleges, employers and the rest of the world is watching. As a result, they don't say what they truly mean and don't let their personality shine. My friends often use swear words for emphasis and they kind of allow me to see how frustrated or angry they are, but online, their english is impeccable and it sounds like their mothers washed the swear words out of their mouths with soap. They are almost completely different people online then the friends that I have come to love.
However, most importantly, there is also an emotional connection that you miss out on online. I believe that people can only truly connect in person. When talking, the way you convey your message is almost as important as your message itself. In person, I can hear the change in your tone, see you get excited and animated and am able to see things from your point of view. This is the reason why Presidential debates or any other debates are conducted in person and not over Skype. As humans, we pick up on things such as body language and tone and these are best observed in person. It is quite hard to explain but you just feel connected to people when you are in the same room. This week, a former Troy High Grad was in a car accident and is still in critical condition, and so after the football game, there was a candlelight vigil to pray for her. In that silence, everybody there just connected. It didn't matter that I was a Hindu and most of the people were Christian. Everybody there felt the same thing and just prayed.
Another example of this is in music. I find that in the acoustic version of songs you can truly feel what the artist is feeling. So below I included two video clips of OneRepublic's Song "Life in Color," which truly fits the theme of this blog. One is the acoustic clip taken in London and the other is taken of their album. If you listen to them, you can really feel the emotion in the acoustic clip and it sounds totally different from the studio produced version.
I hope that less emphasis is put on social networking and people realize how much better it is to interact with people in person. I don't want to be your facebook friend; I want to be your friend where it truly matters: in the real world.
No comments:
Post a Comment