We have a tendency, as human beings, to want definitive answers. Answers that rid us of our cognitive dissonance. Is social media bringing the world closer together? This is a question we’ve all discussed at the Thanksgiving dinner table when Aunt Deb just can’t seem to understand “all the kids and their phones.” Well, Aunt Deb has a point, as do all the kids defending their use of phones. Because in the world of social media, there is so much good, and so much bad– it is almost impossible to answer this with a strict yes or no.
Let’s look at the facts. Millions of people are communicating now, and they weren’t ten years ago. That’s a fact you can’t argue with. Communication is happening from Australia to Africa, and in this case from Rihanna to Mexico:
Mexico you are in my prayers as well! Just heard of this horrible earthquake! Praying for the families of those who lost their lives!
— Rihanna (@rihanna) September 8, 2017
People are communicating throughout the entire world, and when you look at it from that standpoint, the world is, in fact, coming closer together. And it’s even helping us survive:
Anyone staying in Florida:#IrmaHurricane2017
Please RT to get the word out pic.twitter.com/pMUoY9TGDM— Debbie Sideris🌈❄ (@debbiesideris) September 9, 2017
But let me ask you this: What are people doing when you walk into the subway in New York City? What are people doing when they’re waiting 2 hours at the doctor’s office? What are people doing waiting on line at a deli for their sandwich? While the world may be communicating more than ever, no one seems to be talking to the person next to them. So now you see how things get a little grey.
Here’s a fact that proves the world is not coming closer together: Kids today don’t have the social skills to hold a conversation, because their communicating online more than they are in person. You can read Katherine Bindley’s explanation in the Huffington Post here.
The truth is, social media is and isn’t bringing the world closer together.