Growing up as a millennial in an age of rapidly advancing technology, many social platforms have been popping up to allow us to keep in touch and meet new people conveniently. But we’ve lost sight of the value of face-to-face communication. We live in an age of convenience but let’s inconvenience ourselves once in awhile and enjoy each other’s company.

I started to think about modern communication while working in retail and seeing so many kids that range in the ages of 8-12 years old (an approximate estimation based on appearance) that are walking through malls on iPhones talking about Instagram. I totally understand younger kids having a cell phone for emergencies to contact their parents, I got my emergency use cell phone when I was in sixth grade. It was a Samsung prepaid flip phone and it did the job just fine. Kids at that age should be outside playing sports together or hiking or even reading a book. They definitely do not need iPhones and putting a smart phone like that in their hands gives them a distraction from building forever friendships and exploring the outdoors. I loved being outside when I was a kid. And I loved reading books. Even having an iPhone now, I wouldn’t have ever given my ten year old self one. Where do we draw the line for too much online communication?

With apps and websites like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Tinder, etc. we can meet people and let our friends know what we’re up to on a day-to-day basis and let’s face it, we’re living in a time where life itself has become very fast paced and busy. It’s hard to find time to get together with all of our friends and family. I’m 100% guilty of using social media a lot but I wouldn’t call it excessive and still I find that I do most of my communication through social media and texting. (I even taught my grandpa how to text when I was in high school and now he’s gotten himself an iPhone and he even uses emojis.) We all love pretending we’re part time photographers on Instagram, using Facebook for sharing thoughts and opinions, and planning our future homes and lives on Pinterest but how can any of that be fulfilling without true friends in real life to share it with?

And then there’s Tinder. Why? I know there are a handful of long lasting relationships that started on apps like Tinder but those apps brought online dating to a whole new level that’s a little mind blowing sometimes. Hook up culture exploded when it became as easy as swiping left and right to match and then message to meet up. You do you, but meeting up with someone I don’t know freaks me out a little. Personally, I’d rather meet people face-to-face at social events.

Since I went to college three years ago, I talk to my parents on the phone fairly regularly just to talk and have a conversation. We text for quick things but we talk on the phone to catch up. Being super busy and not always being able to sit down with family, I’ve appreciated phone calls more. Even though phone calls aren’t face-to-face conversation, there can be so much lost and misunderstood in text messages. I talk to my boyfriend on the phone too but even talking on the phone with friends helps maintain a more personal friendship.

Being in college and being so focused on my future and doing well, I want to make a change in my life and make more time to even just have a coffee with a friend instead of texting and liking Facebook posts all the time. I’ve grown apart from a lot of friends simply because Facebook likes and occasional texts don’t maintain a friendship. Eventually you get busier and forget to send occasional texts. And then you don’t want to send too many because you feel like you’re bothering them since they’re super busy too. I want to keep the friendships I have now and contact via cell phones and Internet just doesn’t get the job done. We can’t forget about face-to-face communication in this world of modern technology focused on convenience.