I was talking with the hubby a few days ago and he made a comment that would not have been accepted by the masses. I found the statement quite humorous but told him he was wrong for saying it out loud. The comment was related to African-Americans or black people, whichever you prefer, and the internet. While he could have used different terms to state his opinion, I must say that his statement seems to ring very true.
We are in a time where most interactions happen digitally. Look at me, I basically started an online journal. In my defense, this journal/blog was not started to replace actual human interaction. The blog serves as a way for me to do something I like, write, and if others want to read it, GREAT! Now, I am not saying that I don’t use social media at all. I couldn’t say that I would miss many events if I didn’t. But, I do try to limit my exposure to it.
The challenge is balancing your words/activity on the internet with the physical relationships in your life. If I simply write about my issues with people in my life or never tell my family directly the importance they serve in my life, how will they ever know? I may write how much I love or respect certain people and relationships in my life but don’t get it twisted, I have also communicated that live.
Now, why did I choose the term balance? I chose balance because we have to create a culture where people feel ok sharing their thoughts, activities, life on the internet but they also have an in-person support system in place that allows them to truly work through things that may be troubling them. From my perspective, relationships with strong connections, physical, intellectual, spiritual come from a closeness that cannot be obtained digitally. It seems that the more we lose these connections the more it seems as though the world has gone mad. The world hasn’t gone mad; we just haven’t created an environment that can balance social media effectively with the issues that exist today.
