i just read this It is a great article
Biggest thing I got from it is
"I have a morbid fear of voicemail. I don’t like talking on the phone. I am bad at responding to emails, let alone initiating an email conversation. Friends naturally fall out of touch with me for long stretches of time." I've found that this is more and more frequent. Social anxiety is feeling like an epidemic caused by learning social media before learning those important social skills.
I feel like you are supposed to fall out of touch with some people. I'm of the opinion that social circles should evolve and not just grow. It creates a lot more of that emotional labor because everyone thinks they have 500 "friends". In my world, I don't require a social circle as large as that, so I find it easier to manage.
I'm not a very active social media user yet the internet in general is still a huge part of everything I do. Like is it even possible to function without a cell phone now?
I only have cell service when I'm on wifi. When I leave the house, I'm unreachable, unless I make the choice to grab a wifi signal somewhere. It's glorious. My phone can die for a day or 2 and, I'm not too worried about missing anything. I originally got a cell phone for my convenience(back in 1994) so that I could call people when I wanted. Not so that I could be at everyone's beck and call 24/7. I had a pager for that and responded when I felt like it. But, I'm a dinosaur. That said, I haven't canceled my FB because, I may need it at some point but, only about once a week for 10 or 15 minutes.
I'm a weirdo, I guess. I'm all for tech and it's benefits but, not at the expense of skills that have served me well in the past, like being able to talk to someone face to face. I dated a girl a couple years back that felt severely limited because she refused to talk on the phone, to anyone, ever. All text, email or SM. I looked at it as a severe handicap that I'm not sure I'd be willing to depend on FB to remedy. Tech breaks. Then what? Even if it's for a day, people who only communicate that way would be cut right off.
I guess it boils down to too much of a good thing. Idk.