Photo by Quaritisch Photography on Unsplash
Nowadays, smart-gadgets seem to have made their way within our thresholds; from phones, to televisions, to even the homes themselves. However, in an age where our devices have been programmed to operate under their own self-assured guises, I would like to beg this question: where should sentiments of measly connection fit within all this ruckus? Now, contrary to most (if not all) of my established works, I would actually like to voice my own narrative within this composition, instead of fronting my typical analytical tendency. You may also stand to notice that this piece should include vocabulary far more accessible to that of America’s average population (given the fact that such demographics occupy literary margins similar to that of a seventh-grader; but we’re not here to unpack that today), as I find this matter deeply disconcerting.
I’m not going to sit here and try to lecture my fellow readers on the ‘detrimental blah blah blah presented to us by the confining margins of social media,’ or whatever. There simply isn’t a seat with ‘high enough’ leverage for me to take, in order to boast such righteous ideals. The truth is, much of America’s youth, including myself (admittedly), has been so blindsided by these seemingly never-ending waves of dopamine, that we’re losing our connection to the world around us. Nothing is quite really ever enough anymore. We’re (as to quote one of my all-time favorite music artists, Sofia Isella) lost in the infinite scroll (shoutout to “All of Human Knowledge Made Us Dumb”). As much as it pains me to admit, as of late, I’ve also fallen subject to these algorithms’ desensitizing outputs.
Think about it. Do you actually know any (or all) of your neighbors’ names? Their professions? When it comes to exploring connection within a digitalized age (such as ours), I fear I may truly be at a loss for words. What else is there to explore, given such societal measures, if not the lack of it itself? How should such sentiments of alleged communication stand to prosper (or stand at all) within the confining margins provided to them by our sense (or, should I say, lack thereof) of attentivity? It’s so incredibly easy to find yourself sucked in, immersed in these sentiments of dopamine and release, even if you don’t initially realize it.
“Oh, but that would never happen to me!”
Hasn’t it? Now of course, I don’t, by any means, intend on casting a shadow on anyone’s self-concept, but I do find it incredibly tantalizing that one should deem themselves an exception to a phenomenon so (already) well-established that it seems to have taken initiative upon everybody in their periphery. Won’t it? Shouldn’t it? In my eyes, such optimistic sentiments are purely so. Optimistic. But who am I to say? Just in case, I do urge you to plan on staying weary of such toll-taking ideations.
I know the rhetoric vocalized within this article has seemed, at the very least, melancholy; but I want my readers to know that once again, this conflict isn’t without remedial potential. You can fix this; or in any case, if you truly haven’t fallen subject to such depriving measures, you can prevent such enactments from ever taking place. Take care of yourself; take a break.
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