OPINION: Addicted to social media, and loving it!
ANTI-SOCIAL?: Recent anti-social media campaigns have criticised ‘Generation Y’ of being out of touch with the world. Photo: Lameez Omarjee
Hi, my name is Lameez and I am addicted to social media.
They say the first step to recovery is admission. Only, I am not in denial and I have no plans to recover.
I think Mark Zuckerberg is gangsta and the only regret I have is not dropping out of school to start a multi-billion dollar company by the age of 23, myself. If this journalism thing does not work out, I am asking Mark for a job, to finally put my other degree to good use.
Anti-social media campaigns have ironically gone viral. I have watched the videos. I recognise myself, looking at the screens and not “being in touch” with the world.
But these anti-social initiatives are not the most objective videos telling only one side of a story which on its own sounds ominous for future generations.
The video where the man misses the chance to meet the love of his life because he is too busy looking down at his screen and subsequently misses the feeling of holding his grandson in his arms, thirty years later is so overly dramatic! I can Google tons of people who found love on the internet, they are all on Craigslist.
People say social media makes you anti-social. What the “deuce?” (I learnt that from reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Sherlock Holmes, so, contrary to popular belief, I do actually read).
Sure, I hate it when my dad does not hear what I am saying because he is too busy playing Candy Crush on his iPad, but have you ever played Candy Crush? Have you watched a vine? Do you know what YouTube can teach you?
I use Google and Wikipedia to expand my general knowledge and using that knowledge I contribute to an international community of bloggers where I get to exchange ideas with talented writers and learn to improve my own work.
I am more in touch with the world because of social media.
As an introvert, social media has given me opportunities to voice my opinions appropriately assertively, on platforms where people with differing values and perceptions can engage with me.
I know the closest relationship I have is with my smartphone. But at least he does not hang out in other people’s pockets. And when he gets boring I can always replace him with a better model.
