Touch

Since the introduction of the internet to society, things have become very different.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Okay, yes - pardon me for stating common knowledge. The internet has revolutionized nearly every field of human invention and experience, it should come as no surprise that it has affected social relationships as well. I've experienced this over my own little life:

As a kid, calls to India would be a valuable treat. First you'd ensure the dial up connection was switched off, and then you'd dial the international number and hope that someone would pick up. E-mail itself was so new and wonderful - that you could bypass the snail mail system (and everyone who's ever tried posting something to India knows of the horrors of the mail system) and send this electronic letter made of pixels and such to another person in another country...in mere seconds! Fast forward 10 years and I happen to be messaging my cousin in London and my friend in Canada. In real time. At the same time. Instant messaging services like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat have made such communication effortless and cost effective. Anything I want to say is directly sent to the recipient's phone as long as internet is around - or I could just go ahead and text the person.

This is brilliant stuff when it comes to people who live in different countries and time zones - it's another thing when you and your friend are sitting on the same sofa and messaging each other. When short codes replace spoken words and emojis replace facial expressions, there's a line that needs to be drawn.

I admit that I am not above this - I've spent time messaging people in the same city and neighbourhood as me. Forget about meeting them in person, I rarely even pick up the phone and her their voices. I guess my excuse is that there's always something going on, not enough time to meet and not enough time to have a proper phone conversation. That's a lie though, I'm just a slave to convenience as most people would be. This coupled with my social anxiety creates a neat little safe haven where instead of dealing with the complexities of human interaction, I can wrap things up in neat little sentences and use words to deal with situations.

However, there's no denying that I end up missing human interaction.

True human bonding can only ever take place in the presence of both people - I've experienced this with regard to friends I've made over the internet and those of whom I've maintained primary contact with over the internet. There comes a time when you realise that no amount of profile pictures or Instagram posts would make up for the other person's actual expressions or mannerisms. In a time where a lot of stuff can be touched up, tweaked or modified, it pays to have an idea of the actual being you're dealing with.

Anyone who's been through a rough patch can tell you that there's a huge difference between someone consoling you over messages and over the phone when compared to someone giving you a hug, holding your hand or lending you a shoulder to cry on (or vent).

True connections are made in person, so it would only be to your benefit to put the phone down, get out of the house and meet someone - even if it's just to talk about their week or so.

I, however, have exams to get back to - and everyone knows how magnificently exams can kill social lives. Ah well, EDUCATION!