Using technology is becoming easier and easier. In fact, when I write emails in gmail, the AI interface starts to finish my sentences for me. Literally.
For a few years now, social media has been delivering more adverts that the platform believes you would prefer to see. So instead of trying to sell ice to Eskimos, they’ll punt the snow shoes that your husband is looking for – or a new dog bed that sleeps up to eight huskies.
We used to engage with technology, but now it engages with us.
The danger is not in disconnecting from technology – the danger is in disconnecting from the people around us.
We’re fed the latest info on our friends’ kids, families, jobs, holidays and more (it’s literally called our social media feed… think about that for a second…). So, when we see them, what do we really talk about?
When it’s time for conversation – we think we know all that we need to know, so we land up talking about the veneer of life. We are not edified – which is why we generally pick up our phone again and look for some more feed – and have extra veneer for dessert.
There are huge benefits to knowing what’s going on around us, but not when the information overload causes us to disconnect from people and forget how to have enriching and engaging conversations. Or, when our desire to jump back into our virtual spaces pulls us out of our physical ones.
How many times have you been at a function where people are more present on their devices than in the room with you?
When technology is already starting to finish our sentences for us, we need to up our game. When social media is keeping us in the peripherals of life and conditioning us to avoid deeper conversations, we need to learn to ask better questions and explore the (sometimes awkward) emotional content that we’re putting out there.
The aim of technology has always been for the betterment of life, not to replace its essence.
How are you using technology (and social media) to have better conversations with those who add value to your life?
