Technology through the Eyes of a Millennial

We live in a fast-paced and constantly moving time. Our generation, the millennials, have grown up in a significant era with the rise of technology changing the norms and dynamics in our society. We’ve grown to be dependent on technology in our day to day lives.

Take for instance the dating scene– it has changed tremendously in comparison to say when our parents were in the scene (isn’t that just out of this world!). There has been a rise in online dating services, such as  Tinder. With a simple swipe you can become connected, or in this case “matched”,  to someone who also finds you attractive, interesting, or simply swipe yes to everyone on the dating service. Apps like Tinder are accessible to anyone with a mobile device and are available any time of day (or night).

Technology has also influenced the way we interact with people. A majority of our lives revolve around social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and hundreds of other social media platforms  have changed the quality of our relationships. Instead, we are influenced by capturing and sharing aesthetically pleasing images, doing things for the social praise–the likes and comments. Many millennials, including myself,  find that social media enforces to some extent a need to present our lives as perfectly fun adventures with only sunshine and rainbows.

It isn’t difficult to see that for many people, technology has served as a way to escape the present–whether that be in awkward situations or simply as a form of entertainment (admit it you’ve spent more hours than  you care to admit watching Netflix.)

Although technology has provided us with numerous advances in all fields, I have to admit to wishing that society had not become so dependent on it. How nice would it be to talk to someone who isn’t always staring at a screen? Or even having lunch without someone feeling like they need to take pictures of their food? I would love to go back in time and live in a time period where “talking” to someone and dating weren’t two completely separate things.

We don’t need social media to validate our worth. We don’t need the likes, the comments, the swipes, the views or the direct messages to compensate for other parts of our lives like human interaction. We don’t need to be constantly in the bubble that is the internet.

As a millennial, I believe we need to unplug and shut off our devices and enjoy the present more. Life passes by quickly–if you never look past the glass screens, you might miss it.