Many people believe social media was created to bridge the gap of social isolation so many now experience. Yet they do not realise that these platforms are themselves one of the causes of isolation and social distancing: everyone turns to them, leaving family gatherings behind and settling for contact in a WhatsApp or Facebook group. For them, social media becomes an end rather than the means it is supposed to be.
Social media came to strengthen human communication, not to create it, and not to replace its fundamentals: conversation, sitting together and speaking to one another. These platforms are ways to share, connect and communicate opinions and ideas to the whole world in many different forms.
Strengthening human communication presupposes an existing foundation. There must either be content to share—scientific topics, literary work, discussions and so on—or meetings and gatherings in real life that social media can help people share with others, continue a conversation from, or develop into a public discussion. That is how social media works.
Many people have formed friendships through these platforms, but meeting in real life is very different. Online, you see thoughts and appearances, not feelings or a person's essence. So do not be disheartened if your hopes and impressions of someone you wanted to meet prove mistaken when you knew them only through pictures and writing. How could you know who they really are without meeting them? Meet in real life and continue the conversation on social media—not the other way around.
Published in Al Roeya.