Is Social Media Making You Less Social?

Navigation:

• Things of the Past
• Making You Feel Less

It is interesting and ironic that the word “social” appears in the phrase social media. In our grandparents’ era, being social meant that they went to events at church or at restaurants or even attended dinner parties in friends’ houses. With the advent of social media, we are more inclined to be social by hovering over our friends’ lives and swooping in via a swipe, an app, or a message.

Things of the Past

Phones are now used as typewriters were in ages past so we are more apt to message friends than spend time looking them in the eye or hearing their voices on the other end of the phone line. And dinner parties of days of old are now replaced with nights where we arrange our food so beautifully on our plate that we simply must photograph it and share it with our followers and friends. It is no longer about the experience of spending time, breaking bread, and building friendships face-to-face.

If you think that I am implying this is 100% bad, you are wrong. There are families who are geographically separated, loved ones serving in the armed forces far from home, and others who simply cannot be together due to extenuating circumstances. Social media connects and bonds them in special and meaningful ways. They do not need to wait for letters to arrive via the U.S. Postal Service to know how each other is doing. They can use social media to see each other and learn what their lives are like. That is a tremendous gift.

Making You Feel Less

Aside from the previous example, social media can cause you to feel like your life isn’t rich, exciting, or interesting enough. Let’s face it, we compare ourselves to others and their social media feeds are fodder for those comparisons. It is important to remember that in most instances, social media users put on their best faces for those apps. Rarely do they share the daily pitfalls and challenges that all of us have to deal with and overcome?

In Lancaster, PA, we have the best of both worlds. We still have a small town, the community feels so that we can relive some of the experiences of previous generations. But we have the modern connectivity also. There are literally so many activities for people to engage in depending on their interests.

And in the era of brick and mortar shops going out of business at a rapid pace, we still have shops and experiences in Lancaster, PA that is unparalleled. Besides The Shops @ Rockvale, we have Dutch Wonderland, Dutch Apple Dinner Theater, Cherry Crest Farms, Field of Screams, and many more. And for the coffee drinkers, there are plenty of cafes and restaurants like Qdoba Mexican Grill to check in on your social media feeds or post pictures of your own.

So the next time you want to push aside your phone and create new experiences, come to Lancaster, PA to shop, dine, stay, watch, and live.