Just the other day when I was walking through town, I came across a group of pre-teens. They were discussing the latest Fault In Our One Direction album or whatever it is the kids are into these days when I overheard one of them say "Ugh, my phone died and I can't even tweet about it." This real-world example of a TV commercial depiction of a teenager really got me thinking.
Social media websites and apps originated as a way to stay in touch with others, but they've become an outlet for people to share every detail about their lives. I think it's possible to be too present on social media, and there are a lot of cases where people don't use any discretion with what they post. This constant stream of updates about thoughts and actions leave nothing for people to catch up on anymore. I don't even need to ask you how your summer has been because you posted 12 tweets, 2 Vines, an Instagram photo, a Facebook Life Event and a 74-second Snapchat story of your trip to the beach the other day. There's nothing left to the imagination anymore when people consistently post about their every move.
This isn't a jab at social media apps, I use and enjoy them myself. Apps like this are great, they're a way for people to share ideas and for everyday citizens to peek into the lives of celebrities. Having a twitter account made me much more creative because I was able to consolidate thoughts into 140-character text posts that became somewhat orchestrated. However, there are some stones that should be left unturned. Yeah, maybe you did just see a really weird bug or something, but is that really necessary to share with the World Wide Web? Probably not. Let's save the posts for something truly #significant. Do you follow someone on social media to get to know what they're up to? Here's an idea, shoot them a text or a phone call, maybe you can get coffee some time and look up from a screen for at least 20 minutes.