How the Electronic Screen changed Society:

Before the internet (and yes, I was alive for that) you had to look at people in the eye when you worked with them. If you wanted to talk to someone you picked up a phone, dialed or spun the dial and you made sure that they could hear your tone of voice. Friday nights were usually met with pizza and movies. Saturday nights were game nights whether it was cards, board, but mostly you sat there with friends. I can't tell you how many Saturday nights I spent with my Dad out at a bar watching him play pool with his buddies, or we'd go visit Uncle Dave and I'd play with their daughter while they hung out and chatted for hours. If you debated? You did it in person. If you needed to talk to someone? You did it in person (most of the time). I find that these days the internet has taken away the ability for society to be able to accept you for you. They now want to hide you away from them if you are a bother to them. Or, they want you to hide from them so they can't see you because you bother them. When did this become acceptable?

I used AI for this but I wanted to point out how...well for starters there's a floating coffee cup and... woman on the right has five fingers before we see a thumb...and... anyway. lol. This is something we don't see much anymore. Engagement in conversation together. There isn't a cell phone near them. Both are happy to talk and happy to just sit and have a great time with each other. Any time I go out of my home and go to a restaurant, coffee shop, or somewhere else that is meant to have parties sit down and spend time together, you know what I see? Phones. Phones everywhere! Some places now have tablets for the kids to play games on, and I've seen adults doing it too. When did this become acceptable? Did you know that children today do not understand how to properly say hello to an adult? Did you also know that online, people tend to have a different personality than they do offline? That person you just chided because you thought they didn't want to listen to you, would you have truly said those things if you were with them in person? I doubt it, because you would have been more aware of what was going on before making a decision. Besides, do you really think they would've sat there and taken it? Or would they have thrown it right back? Could you handle that?

I won't lie, I'm just as guilty of it. For the longest time I'd jump on Facebook or a forum and if someone said something I thought didn't match my opinion, a view I had, anything like that I'd be right there saying whatever I felt like. It wasn't until a couple of years ago did I realize I was just wasting my time. I was making my points, and yet the responses I was getting were proving they weren't even reading what I wrote. They just wanted to call me names, and stoop to insults and even go after my family. I realized... the internet really is not real. You feel stressed out by something online? Ah well, there's an X in the top right corner, just click it. Or on your phone? Swipe and close that app/page. Done! I stopped responding to almost anything I see online as well that isn't created by a friend. I will rarely reply to anything posted by a news channel, in a public group, etc. What's the point? Sure you can get your opinion across but what's about to happen? Someone will disagree, and will make sure you know they disagree. Then...your emotions will kick in.

Again, guilty of this too. So frustrated because you feel you're not being heard. Suddenly you're typing and you just respond with so much frustration and it sounds so negative that people around you are going "Well damn that person needs to shut the hell up". You've thought that haven't you? You've been the person they've thought that about huh? It's the internet, let it go. If you absolutely need to tell someone something, private message them. If you know them in person, CALL or even GO OVER. Stop using the screens to hide and say awful things. Sooner or later you'll end up...well like me. I spend every work day trying so hard not to let any emotion get to me when I'm with my co-workers. I forget things so easily especially recently with all the stress I'm under. I'll not realize I'm the one that forgot something, not them. I turn around and get snippy because I get tired of "repeating myself"(yet, I hadn't done so haha). Then I feel embarrassed when I realize oh wait no, it was me not them! I have to apologize and hope I didn't make a fool of myself. You don't want to be like me; worried every day that you've said or done something wrong even if you don't think you did because you're stuck on a computer for so long every day that now...well...with a bad memory you just hope you didn't put your foot in your mouth.

Remember everyone, the internet is not your friend. It's not your life. Get out there and see people in person! Smile, shake hands, learn names, find new hobbies! Don't let the internet change your personality! Don't let it be what makes you feel like an outcast in society! The internet is no longer bringing people together. It just tears people apart from the inside out!

Elizabeth is a wife to her wonderful husband, a work at home mother to her beautiful little girl and a blogger for some time now. When she isn't spending time with her "Livvybug", or laughing with her husband, she is looking for new review opportunities and writing or singing along to classic rock and pop music!