I would like to start off by saying thank you to
Facebook for, “Giving people the power to share and make the world more open
and connected,” twitter for, “Giving everyone the power to create and share
ideas and information instantly, without barriers,” and finally Instagram for
being there with us, “To capture and share the world’s moments.” As one can
tell from these three companies mission statements, it is their sole priority
to make sure you can share everything. Unfortunately, our generation has taken
to a bit of an obsession over sharing.
An example of this obsession was highlighted over the
weekend at the premier of Black Mass in
Boston. At the star studded event, large crowds where eager to capture videos
and photos on their smart phones of the festivities. However, it was a photo of
an elderly
lady leaning up on barrier simply taking in the sights that has captivated
everyone. For around her everyone else had their phones out eagerly trying to
capture all the events. Which brings up the question of instead of living the
events we are attending we are now living though our phones or devices. Is the obsession
too great that we can no longer simply stand there and enjoy the experience?
Some may say that it is simply part of a group mentality, the person to my left
and right are taking photos; therefore, I am missing out and should as well be
taking a photo. Or better yet, have these social media companies done such a
good job programming us that if we attend an event we must take a photo or video.
For if we don’t the next question that will likely come up is, did you even
attend the event? What do you mean you didn’t take any photos? It’s as if the
word of mouth mean nothing, storytelling now has to involve your phone showing
photos and videos you took of the event. Now don’t get me wrong it does make a story
that much creditable and interesting, i.e. I was front row at the concert last
night and then you have a photo of the lead singer right in front of you. Or I went
out fishing last weekend a caught a six foot wahoo, you better have photos or I
would never believe you.
However, when you were taking that photo or video there
was a phone or device in-between you and the concert. Where even if it was just
for a second you were more concerned about making sure the photo was in perfect
focused than the fact you favorite song, singer or actor is right in front of
you. Lastly, an argument could be made that taking one photo to simply preserve
a memory is justifiable. I would agree with this, however, there is a time and
place for everything and of course with moderation. Nevertheless, next time you
are out and have an urge to pull out our phone to capture and share the event,
stop and just soak in the experience and then when you want to share it tell
someone about it as if your eyes could speak.
"Facebook
Logo." Facebook. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
"Company |
About." Company | About. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
"Instagram,
Technology’s Window To The Soul." TechCrunch. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015
Dailymail.com, Carly
Stern For. "Still Living in the Moment: Elderly Woman Pictured at a
Premiere Becomes an Online Hero - Because She Was the Only One NOT Taking a
Picture of Johnny Depp." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 05 Oct. 2015. Web. 05
Oct. 2015.
I absolutely agree with the message that you are trying to convey with this blog post. In today’s society, people are so caught up in using their cellphones that they often miss what is actually happening around them. I can no longer even watch a football game with my friends without at least one of them concentrating more on reading text messages or checking up on their fantasy team, rather than just enjoying the game itself. I agree that this idea relates to taking pictures and videos as well. A picture is supposed to capture a truly special moment in time. With the amount of pictures that people are taking today, how can we even determine what is truly a special event? Cellphones were created to be helpful to people, and they have been revolutionized to an absolute extreme. I don’t think technology is at fault for people missing out on what’s happening around them. I think humanity is at fault for allowing themselves to get so wrapped up in this technology.
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