Scrolling through twitter as I normally do I stumbled across a tweet which said ‘are y’all so wrapped up in your phones that you don’t remember what a book looks like?’ It seems like a deep and interesting question to wonder about upon first reading however, it was the 1382 time retweeted response which captured my attention and made me laugh a little. ‘Did you tweet this with a book’ the hilarious response questioned back. Personally I feel like this shows the difference between the types of people that make up our generation. We have those who are obsessed with social media, tweeting, snapping, and instagraming every tiny detail of their life that sometimes they don’t even know how to blink without recording it and uploading it online. Then we have those who are so against social media and technology as a whole, but yet they too still find time to, ironically, moan about their hate for social media on a social media platform.

I myself am not one to post about my life all day, every day, but I will fully hold my hands up and admit that if someone were to take away my phone for more than an hour I would certainly be having a mini, okay, massive meltdown. But despite this, I must say that the tweet about the book slightly angered something inside me. It is very much possible to use social media in moderation and still be in touch with what some may call the ‘old world’. Perhaps it is the fact that I am an English student which keeps my enthusiasm for reading going, and maybe if I didn’t love reading so much then I too would be one of those people who only get their daily reading in by having a good scroll through Facebook statuses. However, I am divided as I sit in between the argument of those that I mentioned earlier. A part of me thinks that technology is great. News travels ten times faster than it would without social media, and you can literally reach out to anyone in the world that you want to with the click of a few buttons.

On the other hand, taking your phone out and getting snap happy in every social situation just to let other people know that what you’re doing is ridiculous, as I think it is so important to sometimes live in the moment and let the memory of the time that you’re having be just that, a memory. For instance, when at a concert and people spend more time taking the perfect picture or video of their favourite artist rather than enjoying the moment and watching what they paid to see in person. There is always footage online of concerts and if someone goes to a concert to just to video the moment, it almost seems like they have wasted their money on even going there in the first place as they could have stayed home and viewed the show online. What enhances a scenario like this and makes it more irritating is that it also affects other people who do want a break from all the technology and just want to enjoy themselves and the atmosphere that they are in, which they cannot do if there is a giant iPad blocking their view. This is where I feel technology and social media has escalated and gone too far as before the days of highly developed technology, situations such as this would not happen and everyone would be able to enjoy themselves in these environments because social media did not exist and people were not obsessed with tracking their every move as phones were just used to phone and text others. But if we think back to before phones were even invented, we can see how useful phones are. Before mobile phones were invented people had to organise to meet up with friends through a home telephone and would have to be expected to be there as there was no way to tell anyone if you were going to be late.

The more serious times when social media can be seen as useful is with such situations such as the Paris bombings that took place earlier this year where the hashtag ‘#porteouverte’  was created in order to provide safety for those who did not have a place to stay in Paris. This proves that social media is relevant and needed in today’s world as it can be used to help protect people in tragedies such as this, which would not be possible without social media. People are also able to offer their condolences from all over the world through social media, through tweeting their regards to others that are in different countries. With this also comes a great sense of unity that echoes throughout the entire world, such as when people on Facebook were able to put a translucent French flag on top of their profile pictures as a symbol of support for Paris. I also admit that there was a time where I definitely thought that people had forgotten that before all this elaborate technology, people used to go out in public and fight for what they believe in, and I felt social media got to a point where people seemed to think that a simple hashtag and a tweet saying that you stand up for something is enough, and that counts as fighting for the issue that you are supporting, which inevitably leads to this perception that social media makes people lazy. However, I have been proven wrong many times as social media is also put to good use to bring awareness to instances such as the Ferguson protests which ensued after the devastating shooting of Michael Brown. Heavy media coverage encouraged the involvement of anyone who wanted to participate. Events such as this and many more prove that even though the younger generation use social media often, it can be utilised to get more people involved with things they would not do if they did not see it online, evidently showing that the youth are not lazy and can actually be serious in the way that they use various apps and turn them into real life actions.

Another perk of social media is that as soon as a tragedy strikes, people in multitudes of countries can view all the details that surrounds the events as soon as they happen, and this is where social media holds its main purpose as the older ways of communicating with media outlets such as newspapers and magazines would take days, maybe even weeks to get accurate information to people in the rest of the world where an event is not happening. However with this said, there is definitely still use for newspapers and magazines in today’s world because as much as I do indulge with reading multiple news outlets online and through apps, I also frequently purchase magazines for the use of pictures and it’s journalism. Through printed journalism the writing is much more concise as writers have to be selective of what it is that they do actually print because there is a limited amount of space and words available, but when it comes to online publishing, endless stories can be printed and it is up to the public to decide for themselves what they personally want to read and filter out the rest. So while some of the older generation may complain that the youth spend so much time on their phone looking at social media, they must recognise that it is how many of us find out what is happening in the world and not all of us are consumed underneath this self-obsessed, constant selfie posting bubble. A lot of us are actually using social media to stay in touch with news and people from all over the world. This can actually be seen with the older generation that do use social media as those who live in different countries can keep in touch with their relatives by just clicking on their Facebook profile and seeing what they have been up to with a catalogue of photographs. Other apps such as Instagram and Timehop are amazing to look back on and see how you as a person have evolved and how much your life has changed, leading to a cringe worthy and humorous self reflection through a digital photo album. But through this we have then been forced into saying goodbye to physical photo albums and disposable cameras as a huge majority of people do not feel the need to go and get their photographs developed as the simple transfer from their phone to social media is good enough in the modern day. This is mainly because it is easier and does not cost money and is therefore more convenient. But on the contrary, photography shops still exist for those who do choose to still use film cameras and like having a physical photograph to hold and keep safe.

Another big trend that has developed with the rise of social media is viral videos. They can be used to spread awareness of charities and businesses and can even get people to donate and raise money for certain people all over the world. Or they can be used for something as simple as making people laugh and bringing joy to someone’s day. Which leads me to the joyous and funny side that social media has to it. I one hundred percent think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with purely using social media for humorous purposes, because for some people they view social media as an escape and want nothing more from it apart from some fun after they have had a stressful day. For others, social media is all they have as they may struggle with anxiety and personal issues and they feel like they are only one hundred percent comfortable talking to people online. A lot of young stars have also managed to make a living out of posting videos on Vine and YouTube so when people complain about the effect that social media is having on the younger generation; there are actually some who have careers based on this, which actually gives other people hope as anyone with a camera has unlimited freedom to post whatever they want on the internet, and whilst it has been seen in the media that people can take advantage of this and use this freedom to spread negativity, there is no denying that this creative freedom is liberating. 

Overall, it is clear that social media is there for people to indulge in if they wish too, but the people who choose not too should acknowledge that there is no reason to look down on those who do. It is obvious that social media obviously does have its advantages as well as disadvantages but in the modern day, there is no denying that it plays a huge role in developing the world as it is today. As social media continues to rise there will always be those who climb along with it, and those who will sit in their corner and stay opposed to most of it, either way there is no denying that in this generation it contributes massively in helping to move each day forward. I think the fact that people even fear printed media and older ways of living dying out, proves that there is still room for it in the modern day. There does not have to be a choice between technology or no technology, there is more than enough room for everything to co-exist and people can select what they want to indulge and not indulge in. The only worry is that as social media becomes more and more popular in the generations to come will items such as books become lost in translation to the point where if questioned ‘what is a book?’ the reply from the younger generation will just be a confused ‘huh? I've never heard of that word!’ or as the tweet questioned will they even know what a book looks like? Let’s hope so.