Living Behind the Screen

Our world is moving so fast with all the technology advancements we see and use today. Slowly, many things we once did physically are moving towards online activities. Nowadays people fall in love online, and some of them end up getting married physically. There is the networking, attending church service online, doing business, learning and grabbing certificates, and playing games—just name it.

---

My elder brother was telling me a few days ago that he is about to resign from his banking job to face a remote job fully. Someone's earning almost a million naira in his department in the bank sector plus many other attached benefits. Should I count the number of times his bank sends him to the United Kingdom for training?

After which he will train other IT staff here in Nigeria, making friends, building social connections, and doing many other fun activities they do observe from time to time, yet he feels moving into an online job full-time will give him a new lifestyle devoid of stress.That's by the way, but it's his choice, and technology has made it easy for him to implement his choice on one hand.

---

It's no longer a story that people can wake up in the morning, simply brush their teeth, pick up their phone, and start communicating with their world without stepping out of their homes from morning until evening. At times I wonder what all these new lifestyles say about our world.

If we should be sincere, you will agree with me that while technology has made life easier for us in many ways, it has also silently changed what the word "social" really means. People are now so comfortable fixing a lot of activities virtually without having to show up. The Zoom app is there for video meetings, as are WhatsApp video calls, Google Meet, etc. These are apps we rely on, majorly now. Even big companies conduct interviews online.

It's good to say that, oh yes, I don't need to encounter traffic to attend the meeting; it has been rescheduled to be held virtually, and we keep living our lives behind the screen comfortably, really?.

---

In the past, people were connecting for a better opportunity through handshakes and introductions physically, but these days emotions are replaced with emojis; we now use emojis to substitute the supposed emotions we should be expressing in a conversation. I am not saying that all these aren't helpful when we are out of reach physically, but if we fail to be deliberate about our online connections, the substitute for physical meetings will not be so healthy for us or even for the upcoming generations.

---

Children aren't also left out with the way things are going nowadays. Most of the kids today would rather choose to play games with strangers virtually than choose to go play ball with other kids physically. Gradually, we are living comfortably behind the screen without thinking of the aftereffect in the long run.

Truth be told, online life has a lot of advantages, and as a busy mom, I can't thank technology enough for coming through for me because life is easier through that; however, I am of the opinion that finding ways to balance our life is the goal; otherwise, depending fully on online for all activities will leave us so empty, and the rate of loneliness will increase, as will anxiety and lack of empathy because you won't be there to read facial expressions and attend to the victim.

---

I don't think humans are created to leave better behind the screen.

The question of if we are headed for a better future or a quiet doom if things continue the way they are now depends on us.

Once we allow technology to substitute our real-life relationships, then emptiness is the answer; however, we can stay intentional about balancing things out, and we will be fine.

---

This is my response to the #Hive Learners prompt on the topic titled, All Online.

Images were generated using chatgpt