I walked wearily to my bed, the 24 hour flight had taken all my liveliness. I thought about my time in Germany. The trip was full of work, but a necessity for school. The concentration it took to learn another culture and language fluently had taken all the energy out of me. Just as I was about to fall in bed, I got a text from my girlfriend: “Hey babe! R u goin to come and volunteer at my church tmrrw? Ive missed u so much and ive waited so long, id be so excited if youd come!” A smile started to form on my face as I fell asleep in bed. I woke up and headed to her church. When I saw her running to me I couldn’t be happier! It had been a month since I had seen her face, and I fleeted with joy. I was there to work and volunteer, as much of a delight as it was to see her. I taught children how to play soccer and casually talked to the other counselors. It had been a good first day full of excitement and energy. Then came the moment I’ve heard so many times from the counselors: “Dude, do you have a Facebook?” For the thousandth time I replied no. People are shocked when I say this and my friends think I need to be more connected with the growing world. But my friendships are not with 1,000+ people I’ve barely met, but with a few chosen people I am truly close to. I believe Facebook has made relationships to casual and superficial. Facebook leads to the disintegration of human interaction through a lack thereof. There is a disconnection between people online that differs from social situations in person. This can lead to invisible social protective barriers to guard from and avoid human contact. What I believe my generation is doing is limiting the percentage of total interaction with other peers and focusing on the other life they lead in the world of Facebook. Many of my friends have thousands online, but how well do they truly know them? The point of falloff is when people use Facebook for basic every day interaction. The human element is completely disconnected from the loop. Essentially the unconscious misuse of Facebook leads to the multiple problems of social awkwardness experienced by our changing society today. It makes interaction so scattered and phony; it leads to shallower relationships with less value than those in person. I cherish the interaction I get from seeing people’s faces, hearing their voices, and watching their body language; not from hiding behind a computer screen and messaging. The simple human interactions in life make the little moments so much sweeter. Just like when you haven’t seen your best friend in the world in a month and she runs to you. That simple smile is the only communication you need to say something deeper than that of a Facebook wall message: “I missed you.”
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