When someone asked me: "Are you dependent on your mobile and SNS?", it's really hard for me to reply confidently "No." Cause to be honest, I might be dependent on it in one way or another. Outside my will.
If I could, I'd like to spend a day without data connection. Just phone calls and text message (SMS). And I'd love not to take a look at my Instagram, or Facebook, or Twitter. But high chance that I'd miss something very important. We are all so well connected but not really. Or not at all.
I still keep my Facebook active because I have so many friends from all over the world, it's really nice to be able to see how the others are doing and exchanging messages, pictures and encouraging messages once in a while. To also share how are we doing to others as well. Though lately I was forced to un-friend those whose posts were not so encouraging or made me want to punch them in the face. Good thing that FB now also has unfollowing menu so I don't have to see their posts in my timeline but I could still be in contact if needed.
There were times when I didn't check on my FB regularly. Results? I missed a friend giving birth, I didn't know when someone passed away, and I missed an event with an FB event invitation. I mean, we were chatting just a few days ago and they didn't bother to send me a message that someone passed away just because "Oh, I posted it in FB. You didn't see?" >_<
My cousin created my twitter account for me in my phone while I wasn't watching. I asked her why. She said so she could be in touch me. I was like: "But we can always send messages or chat through our mobiles?" She laughed and said everyone has it now. OK, fine. I don't regret it now, I have more followers than following anyway. And without having to turn on the TV I can still find out what's happening around the world by following some big news station. Still, I don't get people who complains just about everything in a few posts all the time. Which ended up with my unfollowing of course.
Instagram? This is one SNS that I kept trying to avoid so much until last year. I mean, I already posts my pictures in FB why would I need an account to post pictures only? But then when I ask a friend that I want to see her daughter's picture and why she posts one in FB, I got this as a reply: "Oh, I posted her pictures in Instagram. You can follow me there." That is one. Then I want to order some cakes that my friend bought, I asked her where can I order since the cakery didn't have a store. Again, "They only have instagram. Here, you can follow this." I was so frustrated that I finally created an account and just like everyone else, I posted some useless stuff like my Stitch collection and food that I ate... just because :p
my screen :)
People are getting impersonal. We think that we're connected enough through SNS but not really. You think you know how someone's doing by reading their status or looking at the pictures they posted, but not really. Those are the reasons why I prefer to send messages through text / chat application if I have their mobile numbers; whether it's wishing a happy birthday or convey my condolences. Many times, I received more than just a thanks. I really got to find out how they were doing and sometimes not as good as they seemed to be in SNS.
And how about chat apps? This also frustrates me much!! When there was only SMS, people tend to write short messages, trying to include as many info as possible in 1 message. In chat rooms? It goes like this:
Hey
How are you?
Busy?
Oh yeah
I forgot
She called
One word one line. People, it's damn annoying.
And then I got tired of sending sms back and forth to a cousin. I asked him if he has any chat apps installed? He said yeah, he got LINE. I sent him a long message through LINE and he only read it like 5 hours later and replied with "Sorry, I don't use it much and hardly read it." So why the heck did you tell me to send you messages there??!?!?!
I have 3 chat apps in my phone: Whatsapp (basically to connect with almost everyone, business included), Kakao Talk (to connect with my Korean friends) and LINE (to connect with some Japanese & Indonesian friends -- who just like the cute stickers, tbh LOL). Then another cousin added me in all chat apps. One day she messaged me through Whatsapp, another day through LINE and many times when I tried to message her I had no idea where to send cause sometimes she uses one chat app and the other tomorrow. I just had to send to all 3 and see where she replied from. What's even funnier, we used to connect through Blackberry Messenger (BBM), but last year I kinda threw my BB out the car window accidentally and broke the LCD. So I switched to android and now both my mobiles are androids. No more BB.
Some people I know were still using Blackberry only so I had no choice then but to install BBM app in my android. But then that cousin-who-added-me-in-all-chatapps asked me to add her in my BBM. And she's using android. I was like: "Why do you need me to add you there? You're using android and so do I. You added me in all 3 chat apps." She laughed and said "Oh, just because. So I have you in all apps." Didn't. Make. Sense. To. Me. At. All.
I also feel sad that in the rare moments that I get to see my friends in one table, everyone just can't seem to not checking their mobiles instead of sitting and looking at me in the eye while conversing. I feel neglected. Oh yes, I also put my mobiles on the table and check the messages that come in once in a while. If it needs to be replied right away, I would. But most of the times, I ignore the unimportant messages and reply when I got home. I hardly check my SNS unless I need to show something that I saw or read in there to the other party in the table.
I really wish that next time I see my friends and family, we all can set aside our mobiles and really talk. We will laugh together from a funny story we tell each other, we will cry together over each other's heartbreak, and I will be able to see you in the eye and see that I matter to you, that you really care. That's when we're really connected.
