Recently I have been taking notice to the fact that this world’s younger generation is nearly obsessed with social media. Everything from dating websites to photo sharing communities seems to consume great amounts of their time. I completely understand that social media is an excellent platform for connecting people from all over the world. I feel as though it provides a way for others to share their religious and cultural views in a less threatening manner. However, how do we really know if our children are separating their personal lives from their cyberspace personas?
‘Generation Me’
What is causing the ‘Generation Me’ to become less understanding of each other? Researchers have found that the recent up-rise in social media is causing several problems in this area. Americans are being bombarded by triple the amount of non-work related information as compared to 30 years ago. They are also turning to platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to keep in contact with their “friends.” When an emotional complication arises, they shut people out instead of handling the issues in a proper, adult like way.
Dating Site Disconnect
Dating websites are also causing a large interruption in the process of person to person interaction. People can now screen out potential partners with the click of a button. The way I was taught to judge a person’s character was by meeting and speaking with them in order to develop understanding of our chemistry. To me, these sites set unrealistic standards for relationships since they don’t provide the basic, emotional building blocks for a long lasting connection.
For example; we will call one of my friends ‘Jane’ in order to protect her identity. Jane had a month long binge period where she was indulging her hatred towards her ex-boyfriend by going on a different date nearly every other night with men she met through dating websites. It the beginning, it looked quite thrilling being whisked around the city and having everything paid for. Eventually though, Jane crashed and burned after one of those men set higher expectations, then hurt her even worse than her ex. Now it is back to the real world for Jane; lesson learned.
Instant Gratification
Now, as much as I would love to blame all of the lack of empathy on social media, I cannot. I must also take into account several other factors including the aggressive, lightning fast nature of our society. This is thwarting people from taking time to hang out with each other and gain insight on each other’s perspectives. I have also seen a huge deficit in parents setting restrictions on their children’s choices and habits. In the end, what does it all boil down to? Should social media find a way to integrate information on the importance of empathy?
About the Author
Danielle Hall loves writing about the vast knowledge of deals she has attained from living in Orlando her entire life.
