“Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?” - Dark Blue, Jack’s Mannequin
I know kung fu - Neo, “The Matrix”
What do these to quotes have in common? Social Media.
Everyone on social media is downloading something. They do it because they want to learn kung fu. And while they’re not on social media, other people are getting the download even more.
Something strange happens once you start spending 3+ hours on social a day. You start to see what’s actually going on. You start getting the cross-internet jokes. And once you do, you feel alone in a crowded room: you get the jokes that nobody else in your family gets. (Presumably because they have lives not on social media.)
Detach from social (A Knife to a Gun Fight: Why I’m off Social Media) and you start to see something else: when you’re not on your phone at a party, you start to see just how much everyone is on social. Checking their SMS, their posts, etc. That’s when you really feel alone in a crowded room.
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Bryan lives somewhere at the intersection of faith, fatherhood, and futurism and writes about tech, books, Christianity, gratitude, and whatever’s on his mind. If you liked reading, perhaps you’ll also like subscribing: