Screen time

Here's the way I see it. This social media thing.

I look through a tinted window at all the people I follow. I see their pictures, read their blogs, watch their vlogs and laugh at their snaps. I can see them, but they can't see me. Sometimes, I tap on the window - a comment, a picture, a like - and someone who I follow, follows me back. Then we have opened the window and we can see each other. We can communicate.

Each one of the people who I see through my window is facing the other way. Looking out through a window of their own, experiencing their own social media world. They are watching their own little show - handpicked to fit their interests and likes. Occasionally they look around and through the open windows have a chat with their friends, with me or you. 

Sometimes we forget that our windows are tinted though. That what I see through mine is very different from yours. Especially when we tap on the window and say "Hi, I see you!" and find that the window is soundproof. Maybe they just didn't hear us. Or maybe they did, but they're feeling a bit chilly and don't want to open the window.  In many cases, we don't bother waving through the window. We are just happy to have a look out and see what's happening out there and then go back to live our own lives.

It's a weird concept isn't it? To think that we spend our screen time (gives a new meaning to this I suppose) building up an afinity with people who don't know we exist? And likewise that people are watching you through their windows without you knowing it (unless you have built a wall with your security settings). That the people we like following aren't necessarily those who you'd want to have a real connection or conversation with and vice versa.

I suppose there is nothing wrong with that, although I do find that the open windows are a lot more refreshing and the view is just slightly clearer. Wave if you're out there!