What a week of media usage by yours truly, a millennial. Something about me is that I struggle to feel motivated to spend time on communicating with people through personal media, mainly referring to the more time-consuming ways such as texting. I've had to reanalyze my "why" of my communication with others, and I came to the conclusion that, if I choose to take time to care for people from afar, I want to make it of a higher and more enjoyable quality! So... there was the answer: THE MARCO POLO APPLICATION. You see, I noticed that I had this habit of communicating with people over text grudgingly because of the perceived burden it placed on me to express exactly what and how I wanted to through a limited means. Is that not the very stigma of media we are trying to banish from our social lives? It is indeed a bad thing to base relationships with our fellow humans on artificial fronts. So what was the miracle of the week? You guessed it... ENJOYING MORE AUTHENTIC FORMS OF CONTACT WITH MY FELLOW HUMANS! Marco Polo is precisely the way I kept in contact with those I most cared about during my nonstop busy days over the summer as an EFY counselor because of how much more easy and genuine it felt to quickly start conversations and respond through videos. You can respond when you want, with how much you want, and the other can even watch it live or fast forward if you're an ADD responder like I am! Now that the stress of school is feeling the same as that summer busyness, I knew it was time to make that my form of keeping in contact with those I care about. THIS IS GOOD! I ENJOY PEOPLE MORE THIS WAY! And that is what "True Millennials" do, my friends... we notice the advancing world around us and use all our resources for good. As cheesy as this whole post sounded, I definitely feel accomplished sharing this goodness of revived sense of motivation to love and know people better through media! Hallelujah!
Welp, I completed my 7-day social media fast and it was eye-opening for SURE. Something I didn’t realize was how much I’ve relied on Facebook and Instagram to get my “social” fill, and this past week I loved how it felt to actually keep up with friends in person and be much more inclined to make new ones. I’m definitely more extroverted and than I thought I was! I also really enjoyed feeling free to incorporate more traditional types of media into my repertoire, such as more scripture reading, class readings, and especially a more focused viewing of General Conference addresses! The messages of General Conference this past weekend reinforced this desire in me to keep seeking authenticity! Whether it be making my social life more “social”, portraying myself in the most real way possible, providing myself with more experiences with real truth and living it better, or working on having a more authentic relationship with my Heavenly Father and Savior... IT FEELS GOOD, so I’m pumped...
I love using Marco Polo too!!
ReplyDeleteMy sisters are my best friends and one live is in Georgia and the other lives in London, England so Marco Polo has become a lifesaver to keep us connected. I love it so much because I dont feel as much pressure to respond in any certain way, but I feel more at ease being able to present myself with my intonation, facial expressions, messy hair, etc.
ReplyDeleteI love that you are conscious about your use of media to connect with others! One of my favorite things about technology is that I am able to stay in contact with people I would not normally be able to. Sometimes I feel like texting can become burdensome, so it sounds like I need to download Marco Polo.
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