Streaks of sunlight entering through the window. Birds chirping. Getting out of bed, opening the door, finding the day’s newspaper and keenly glancing through the pages with a cup of coffee in the other hand. Well, all these are just pictures from the past. Today, our morning begins with the repeated “snoozing” of our alarm, and finally waking up unwillingly. Then we set our eyes on the little screen, which is our dearest companion these days – our smartphone! Of course, we can undoubtedly say that our smartphone is our “BFF“, as we spend a major part of the 24 hours we have with this little gadget.
Our life actually revolves around this remarkable invention these days. We can’t take our eyes off our phones, not even for a single second. Ironically, everything else in the real world seems to be a distraction for us! We are completely dependent on smartphones for our days to move forward. The list of things that we do using a smartphone may be endless. Even the basic amenities of life – food, water, clothing, land, house – are searched for and made available via smartphones. Shortly, even the air we need to breathe may be available online! Using social media, we try to make the existing relationships stronger and also make new contacts and acquaintances with people all around the world. All research and academic activities, projects and job-related works are done with the help of smartphones. Everyday we hear a lot about the immense growth of technology and how it has transformed our lives. But, let us turn back and look for once – did our lives change for good by the entry of smartphones into our journey? Unfortunately, the answer is NO! Smartphones were meant to bring about changes that would help us cope up with the fast-moving world that is racing towards ultimate progress and development. But we forgot to realize the fact that this race is taking away the most essential element from our day-to-day life-TIME!!
Nowadays we don’t have time for anything. No time to spend with our family, friends and dear ones. Oh sorry, there is a little correction in that statement. We do spend time with all of them in the “other world”, the virtual one. Social media has brought us really “close” to each other that we can stay connected with each other at every point of time. The real question to ponder arises here – Are we actually getting closer or are the bonds weakening? There is increased communication, but less effective communication. We are literally under the control of modern technology that we tend to be developing a mindset that appreciates materialism and luxury rather than necessity. Anything is available to us in just a snap, thanks to e-commerce. But then we hear cases of cyber fraud and similar malpractices. There comes the issue of safety and security.Our life is exposed to the world without any masks, and thus privacy too becomes a question mark. Even though all of these demerits are present, we still light up our days with the shimmer of our smartphone screens.
Any technology utilized in the proper manner will help us improve the quality of our lives. We can use smartphones to know about what is happening in every nook and corner of the world. It can be our guide in all kinds of learning and research activities that we have to work on. Any doubts? Well, we have an answer to all of them right in our palms, which is just amazing! Social media can also be used as a platform to know more about people and organizations that can help us build up a strong future for ourselves and thereby, contribute effectively towards our society. We can use it as a place to exhibit our talents and abilities if we wish to do so. Thus, the “other world” can be used to make the “real world” a better place to live in, if used in the right manner 🙂
Let us together hope and work towards a future where there is no war between technology and reality, but the two go hand in hand, supporting the growth of one another…
jzenith 