Are we connecting or de-connecting?

Software updated. Social media advances quicker than you can decide what flavour ‘fro-yo’ to go for. It adapts to our fast-paced lifestyles making it easier to multitask through life, and our generation is a sucker for ease. As we grew up, so did social media. It learnt what we needed and would provide it in an easier way. But how has it impacted on our social networks, online and offline?

Through craftily edited tweets and photo shopped images, social media allows us to hide behind the screen controlling what others see about our lives, something which cannot be done so easily in person. The thousands of followers on Twitter may give you an ego boost, but does it come close to fulfilling true friendships in the unedited reality? I mean, how often have you thought ‘Damn, she looks better on Instagram’ or had an awkward silent encounter bumping into a Tinder ‘match’ you’d been chatting up for the last three weeks. As we connect deeper into the online world we get keyboard-confident yet our in-person social skills suffer.

There’s no doubt about it that social media has done amazing things for our generation. By posting images of your style you can end up being flown to New York for Mercedes Benz fashion week, or by uploading clips of you singing in your bathroom you could be singing alongside Justin Timberlake in no time. Online is the mother of all opportunities. It is a platform for digital communications but sometimes it can all go too far.

Take Tinder, for instance, an online dating app that allows you to brutally ‘Approve’ or ‘Decline’ a match based solely on their photos. How shallow can you get? What’s worse is when you’ve ended up with no matches that you re-review and lower your standards catergorising these as the ‘I suppose they will do’ matches. This app has done exceptionally well attracting 75 million of the vain and the vulnerable but yet again promotes hiding and manipulating your picture-perfect life. What happened to the good old days where a handsome chap would take you out for dinner? Instead we’re using this superficial app that the majority of its users think of as a sophisticated booty-call. A girl can only dream…

Growing up accustomed to use social media as a way of communication, it’s become second nature to us. We would return from school and rack up 7 hours a night socialising via MSN chat, ask any 18-24 year old and they’d tell you it was more addictive than alcohol. Yet with so many friends in our digital universe, how is our generation identifying that ‘loneliness’ is one of there major concerns within life. These online in-genuine encounters could be to blame. Rather than spending our time pretending to be someone we’re not and fabricating our lives it should be spent interacting with our age group, peers and friends securing friendships that will last a lifetime.

There is no denying that social media has advantages. From storing friends birthdays and celebrations on Facebook to save you from the embarrassment of becoming the ‘forgetful friend’ or blasting the latest headlines via Twitter to make sure you’re always in the know, even if it is about Coronation Street. It is

always accessible and can happily distract you through the days boring tube commute. However we recommend you compromise your ‘online’ time in order to create and maintain friendships, especially if you’re just starting University.

They say University is a time where you make your most valued friendships, so put down your phones this term and actually get to know your fellow students. Yes, social media may come in handy when you’re brutally separated from them after the best years of your life. When reality sinks in that you’re each working in a completely different city, Skype may be your only lifeline but until then, unplug! Shake hands instead Skyping, flirt with your eyes not your fingers and show your emotion without debating which Emoji to use. An evening of wining and dining is surely more worthwhile than writing cryptic text messages or witty comments. So unless you insist on being an avatar, it’s time to turn off and relish in real connection.