Technology is great, it really is. It can connect people from all over the world, it can help us find cures to terrible diseases, it can help us research and understand the ideas of people all over the world; technology can do all this along with an innumerable amount of other things. But, I honestly hate technology in the way the Generation Z kids are practically forced to use it. I was born in the first year of Generation Z, a generation of tech savvy kids that are constantly connected to their phones and computers, but increasingly disconnected to their families, nature, and normal social interactions.

It seems like nowadays it’s practically impossible to find a teenager without a phone, without texting, without a Facebook, or without internet access. My generation is disgustingly technologically dependent. All we care about is who’s texting us, who changed their profile picture, or who’s getting hate on Facebook and Tumblr. That’s all anyone talks about anymore, I wish I could have an intelligent conversation with someone my age but that just doesn’t seem to be possible now; if i say, “Did you hear about the fires in our neighborhood?” my companion will most likely respond, “Yeah, I saw it on Facebook. Did you see So-and-so’s new profile picture????”, therefore effectively ending my attempt at intelligent conversation with a fellow Gen Z-er. Because teens my age are constantly connected to the internet and their phones they feel like if they’re away from a device with a Facebook connection for more than two hours they just missed a weeks worth of information. But, honestly what are you going to miss on Facebook in two hours? Nothing. My generations infatuation with Facebook makes no sense to me, I have a Facebook, but only because I would feel strange not having one. I don’t understand the pointless things people write online, because seriously, I don’t care that you’re at Chipotle or that it’s snowing or that you had a bad day or any other inane thing that you post as your Facebook status, and I doubt anyone else really cares either.

Texting, it’s supposed to be a convenient way to keep in touch on the go. I would have no problem with it if that was the function it actually held in society, but it’s so much more than just making sure your plans are still intact while on the way there. Texting is a phenomenon. My generation is obsessed, using texting as more than it was ever intended to be. Teens like to be in constant contact with their boyfriend or their girlfriend or their best friends, but I don’t. Maybe it’s just me, and maybe I’m the one slightly anti-social tech savvy teen, but what’s the point of constantly talking to your boyfriend? He has a life, and I’m sure you do too. He most likely isn’t interested by the fact that you’re at Wal-Mart looking for toothpaste, so why tell him? Well, one of the reasons is that couples don’t trust each other, and big part of that is how technologically wrapped up Generation Z is. Boyfriends and girlfriends alike get mad when someone “likes” a picture of their significant other on Facebook or is constantly texting them. Texting has made communication strange in my generation, it especially has complicated relationships. If a guy texts me and flirts with me, I’m going to assume he likes me, but more often than not, these guys are not charismatic in person at all like they are over text, so I’m left with this strange confused feeling of, “Why is he always texting me if he’s so awkward in person?”. But, it’s really not their fault. It’s the fact that they grew up with this technology at their fingertips, where it was easier to be charismatic and interesting over text and the internet, where they could plan out the perfect message rather than be awkward in person and learn real personal skills.

The teens of Generation Z are going to have real problems in the real world when they go into it. We as a generation have no social skills and are unaware about how to make proper social interactions. I’m trying so slowly disconnect myself from my technological dependence because I’m afraid it may have a serious consequences in my future. I think that right now my time would be better spent exercising, reading, cooking, doing homework, or being with friends and family rather than sitting by myself on Facebook while texting someone about the mundane activities of my daily life. I really wish I had been born before the technological boom, where real life was more interesting than the cyber world. But, it’s hard to find someone to go do something interesting with when all the other people my age just want to sit around in a basement texting their special someone of the week while Facebook stalking anyone and everyone that comes up in their newsfeed.