My friend has taught me intimacy in a world of social media "friend" frenzy. Did you know that you can change your number of best friends in a “snap”? Snapchat makes it easier than ever, “If you want more than three best friends, you can easily change the number to five or seven.” According to 2016 stats, Facebook users now have an average of 338 friends; Twitter users have an average of 201 followers; Teen Instagram users average 150 followers. 150-338 friends and followers, and some people have all three, if not more, social media platforms. That's a lot of friends with which to maintain intimate and close connections! Does intimacy actually exist in these virtual friendship worlds? Some would say they do and swear by it, but quickly come to realize…I’ve never met her daughter; he’s never been to my home; we’ve never shared a private meal. How often have you taken a social media spawned connection to the next level of real offline friendship? Now, what about the time that is spent on these virtual friendships? Social Media Today posted in January of 2017, “Teens now spend up to nine hours a day on social platforms, while 30% of all time spent online is now allocated to social media interaction.” Could all of this time be driving relationships farther apart by "knowing" more and more people and less and less about each of them? Imagine if we spent this kind of time investing in relationships like taking chicken noodle soup and a note of encouragement to a friend when we heard she had fallen sick. Would intimacy in the world increase at the rate social media interaction has? The human desire for connection and intimacy is great, and I’m grateful for my offline and real world friendships. That is why I want to make a concerted effort to answer fewer tweets (my social media vice) and shorten my email responses while using that time to develop and grow old and new intimate offline friends. The cost of less intimacy in my world and yours is too great otherwise. Will you join me? Tonya Ramey Ohio Hi-Point Career Center High School Director
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