The Struggles of Social Media & Making Real Social Connections

As someone who's part of the "technology-infused" generation, I've noticed a few things whenever I decide to take a break from technology for either an entire day or even half the day. Now before I get into this topic, I'd like to address this one thing. Taking breaks from social media in general is difficult; I think anyone around my age or younger could attest to that statement. However, sometimes setting even the smallest of goals can help you find a better and healthier balance, like just turning off all your notifications or putting your phone away for just one day.

Whenever I go out to lunch with a friend or go to see a movie by myself, I'll sometimes see and observe other people's behaviors. There are families who are actually engaged with each other in conversation, and there are also those who are with one or two friends and they seem to be having fun. However, in the midst of all of that, you do sometimes see that one person who's with another person, but both of them are on their phones. Whenever I witness that, it reminds me of my sometimes unhealthy habits with technology and social media. That feeling of always needing to keep people updated with what we're doing or checking in with what's going on in everyone else's lives honestly gets tiring in my opinion. I don't want to waste my time with that, and quite frankly, I don't know why we care so much about that. Now don't get me wrong here, I completely understand that we all just want to feel connected to distant friends or relatives sometimes, but to what end does this continue to where it becomes some kind of obligation? That fear of losing touch with people we care about... why is that such a big deal? These are just some things that I think about whenever I see where I'm at with social media today. I don't want to put this obligation on me to keep people informed with my life, nor do I want to take time away from my day to just scroll through an endless supply of pictures, memes and funny videos. I just want to become more aware of what I'm doing in the moment and become more interactive with the people in my life that I care about.

So with that being said, I feel like my biggest challenge in becoming more social off screen is just starting up a conversation. I typically don't have any problems with small talk and I'm a pretty friendly person upon first greetings, but anything beyond that does give me a slight hint of anxiety. Anyone who is naturally introverted would understand that specific need of wanting to be social, but also wanting that alone time afterwards. It's just something that makes me, me.