I’m sitting at a lunch table with my friends. I’m eating my ham and cheese sandwich when one of my friends says, “Look at this TikTok! Here, I’ll send it to you.”

For a whole half hour, this is how my lunch goes. The ping of notifications echo in my ears as we all send each other snaps, TikToks, Instagram posts. And apparently, it’s like this everyday.

The purpose of social media is to make us feel connected, but why is it that I feel rather disconnected? 

I live in Gen Z and Gen Z is all about smartphones, texting and social media apps, such as Snapchat and Instagram. And while these apps and technology are useful and can be fun to use, sometimes, it can feel draining, at least for me. 

I grew up watching hundreds of movies but recently, I’ve realized something. I’ve noticed that not many movie characters use their smartphones. 

You may be thinking that there’s an obvious reason for it: that movie characters have to have dialogue and dialogue can’t really be shown through a series of texts. You don’t watch a movie to see two of the main characters text each other. You watch a movie to see characters interact with each other. Yes, I mean interact with each other in person, not through a screen. 

That’s when it hit me. I realized that social media and texting is just all too common in real life and rarely seen in movies. And that ladies and gentlemen, is why I love watching movies. They are an escape. An escape from reality to a fictional universe where people (actors) actually talk to each other face to face.

To me, I feel like talking face-to-face with people is extremely important. When you talk with someone in person, you communicate with a tone that’s unique to your personality. 

For example, ten people can say the same thing while texting, but if they said it in person, you would be able to see their tone, their personality, and their meaning. What I’m saying is that you can’t grasp another’s personality through a screen. It’s impossible. At least not genuinely.

And as each day passes, I feel like our generation is gradually losing the ability to truly communicate and connect with others. It gets me thinking and worrying that our future will be built on screens and meaningless conversations. 

I’m not saying we should completely eliminate all technology and social media. That would be crazy. But I do think that we should try to limit it for the sake of true communication and for the sake of a potential future that won’t be solely based on communicating through screens.