Signed On For Life

Perhaps one of the main differences between living here in the United States and living overseas in Palestine is the access availability to the internet. When I was in Palestine, I was almost never on the internet. When I was, it was for a very short time and the connection was extremely slow, and that was fine. I never resented the disconnect because I had other ways to fill my time. There was always TV and hanging out with friends. I did not need the internet to keep me busy.

The scenario was completely different when I moved to the United States. Here, if a page took more than 10 seconds to load, people are ready to pull their hair out. ( I eventually became that way too)

Although the abundance and easy access to information in the United States is a positive aspect of life here, it has become so engrained in our society that we have become dangerously dependent on it. Things can be good in moderation, and just because something is beneficial, this does not mean that we should push it and overuse it to the point where it counteracts its original purpose.

For example, social connection is an important sentiment in every society. We all want to belong to someone and to feel a sense of companionship with the people around us. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter serve a grand purpose of easily connecting people to one another. These social media sites served their purpose for some time, but soon turned into a forum for what some might call a "False Connection". This is because users do not get the real experience of communicating with someone and connecting with them on a deeper level. Another negative side effect of the excessive use of social media is the decreased productivity of those who become addicted to its use.

People overseas use the internet, but not to the level that is is used here in the US. Since you can't miss something you have never had, society runs just fine with less social network interaction. Instead, they direct their energy towards real life conversations and face-to-face connections. This leads to more sincere relationships that last longer and that are ultimately more successful. The way things sound when they are read through the Facebook chat window is different than when it is heard in a live conversation complimented with voice tones and facial expressions. Online, we have time to think about our response, and mold it to fit what the person we are chatting with wants to hear because we want to feel a sense of acceptance. In real life however, responses are more spontaneous, and thus more honest and genuine. Some might argue that we do not spend enough time online to consider this a real problem.

Despite the positive aspects of the Middle East's lack of dependance on social media, it is important to mention that they do have a keen interest in changing that. People in the Middle East and in many other parts of the world look up to the United States for many reasons, the free use of the internet being one of them. In their perfect world, everyone would have the same accessibility to the internet as U.S citizens do, and I believe that this will soon become the case. When this happens, it would be safe to assume that third world societies will face problems similar to the ones first world countries with full access to the internet are facing today.

 Today, people are spending more and more time IMing, chatting, texting, and e-mailing than ever before. While these quick methods of communication are helpful in many ways, they must be used with a sense of responsibility to ensure their proper usage without suffering the negative effects of their extensive use. Quick communication skills are essential in today's society, but so is human interaction.
Communication pioneers are aware of the problem and have made some strides to make things a bit more personable. So we saw things like FaceTime and Skype emerge. But is seeing someone's face on a screen while talking to them enough? Does it make up for not being in the same room with that person? Is it even better than being in the same room? What is the future of these technologies? These are all questions that perhaps do not have answers yet. the closest thing we can get to an answer at this point would be an opinion. It could depend on who it is we are talking to. Maybe the perfect balance would be somewhere in between digital and face-to-face communication. Whatever the answer may be, being conscious of the way we communicate with the people around us is a good start to ensuring we live our lives as conveniently as possible without missing out on the actual human experience.