When Tweeting Depletes:
How Social Media Can Disconnect Us
How Social Media Can Disconnect Us
November 11, 2011
by Ami Hersh and Leor Shtull Leber
As
people who barely remember a time before the Internet and who use
Facebook (too) often to stay in touch with friends from around the
world, we are not ignorant of the power of social media and technology
in connecting people and ideas. However, we question the direction we
are taking when we rely too heavily on technology and we fear the
authenticity of our relationships when they are based on “@s” and “#s”
We
admit we are guilty too. Once we were sitting around a table with
friends, each of us on our own laptop. Somebody walked in and asked if
he could join and do homework with us, and we awkwardly apologized that
we were actually in a meeting – it just so happened that our meeting
involved us all sitting in a circle in silence working collaboratively
on the same Google doc.
Still,
we use the word “guilty” because of the value of personal relationships
with which we were raised. We both recently attended the JFNA General
Assembly in Denver and were shocked to see the technology culture
present and the (over)use of smartphones during sessions. We were
encouraged to play with our phones instead of focusing on the speakers.
People barely looked up – a great success according to the “Tweet!
Tweet! Tweet!” message of the conference. What happened to turning off
your phone for a lecture? Further, one of the winning innovative ideas
at the Jewish Futures Conference called for the elimination of
meetings: young people don’t want to waste their time meeting in person
when smart phones can do the job.
Well,
we are young people who have smart phones. We still cherish the face to
face time of meetings in person – and look forward to disconnecting by
turning off our phones during those meeting. Email and social media are
important and effective tools, but we must be conscious of overuse and
of replacing genuine in-person relationships, both when we are distant
and even when we are together in the same room, by tweeting instead of
talking.
As
it says in Mishlei 27:19, “As water reflects face to face, so the heart
of man to man.” The beauty of interpersonal relationships is the
ability to look into the eyes of another human being and connect deeply
with them through conversation and expression. As you stare into the
eyes of another human being created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image
of God, you are able to let their souls reflect and interact with your
own. The whole world can open up before your eyes. Social media is
spectacular, important, and quite useful when utilized in its proper
time and place. Let us not however allow the over-presence of social
media to dilute our in-person enduring relationships.
Ami
Hersh is a senior rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary
and the assistant director of Camp Ramah in Nyack. He can be reached at
Ami@campramah.org
Leor
Shtull Leber is a senior at Brown University concentrating in Cognitive
Science and a Student Representative on the Brown RISD Hillel Board of
Trustees. She can be reached at leor.shtull.leber@gmail.com
Social media is spectacular, important, and quite useful when utilized in its proper time and place. Let us not however allow the over-presence of social media to dilute our in-person enduring relationships.
ReplyDeleteThis sums it up beautifully. Social media is not inherently destructive. Much to the contrary, it can be constructive. When used properly, in moderation, and as an adjunct to IRL interactions. It need not be one or the other...rather one and the other.