It is fascinating today to be an inseparable part of this social media circle today as compared to what it was about 8 years ago. Yes, way back then I rarely used Facebook and barely made a profile on Orkut ( my social networking debut site ). Email was considered to be for more business or professional related use. This was my main idea of social media and rest all was life to me.

Today, this perception has completely reversed. Almost everyone of you reading this post right now knows exactly what I am talking about. Our lives consists of 80% of our time spent on either social media applications or online on any other platform or with our tech savvy gadgets like PlayStation, IPod shuffles, laptops and not to forget the mightiest of all, our mobile phones.

Mobile phones, the only thing I consider as man’s world class invention till date but also the craziest one. It is something that not just has the power to make your lives easier but also consuming. Consuming in the sense that it started of as a technological invention and today it has become an indispensable part of our social lives as well. Socializing has a completely revamped meaning now, all thanks to the technologically driven lifestyles that we have today.

I am not against the use of technology and neither I am thankless to how these wonders have made our lives effortlessly easier. I relish the ease with which we can access news on our cell phones and do not have to keep waiting for the vendor to leave a newspaper on my door every morning, also being in touch with our loved ones who live miles apart from us through skype and messenger, how any place in the world can be easily explored on internet today and so much more.

But I even do realize the distance that has widened amongst our social circle, friends, parents, family members and much more because today we focus more on networking online rather than communicating offline with the people around us. We may have 500+ friends on Facebook or over a 1000 followers on Twitter but the virtual reality is no way close to our actual world. I miss the times I used to go out on walk with my friends, whereas today we just go out on walk if we want to catch Pokemon Go; the times we used to relish the scenic beauty of the places we used to visit instead of creating snapchat stories; the times that was spent clicking the right shot for updates rather than cherishing the beauty and those dinner and lunch dates with my friends or family where we can endlessly talk about a chatty neighbour and still relish the meal without taking a look at our cellphones.

I am a digital media marketing student and I am bound to be near technology 24*7 and I love every revolutionary aspect of it. I am an international student too, from an entirely different continent and for me technology is a boon. I saved a lot of money by calling internationally using applications like skype and messenger. I have been able to wish birthdays and anniversaries to my closed ones through social media despite the time difference of both countries. But what I miss is the feeling of being independent of all the technological barriers and sipping a cup of coffee, what I miss mostly is the relief of reading a novel while on bed and waiting up late to receive a letter from your love. It’s so nostalgic and for some this communication is so old school now but this is how I feel living life should be.

Is the virtual world really a substantial place to live in? Or we need something more than that?

You can comment with your thoughts and ideas or any related experience that this article reminded you of.