Is Our Existence Just a Notification?
The proof of life of someone today is just a notification from them — a text, a story, or a snap.
It's fascinating how these digital breadcrumbs have become our only tethers to people we once knew so deeply — parents who raised us, friends who felt like family, colleagues we once worked alongside for months and years. Over time, their existence slowly faded from our minds, and got transferred to our mobile devices.
A notification from a friend lights up our brains, makes us think about them for a few moments, reminisce the past, only to forget them again a few minutes later. We won’t remember them until we get a message from them again.
There is a ton of literature on how one should post regularly on social platforms to get to their target audience. It’s necessary for content creators and influencers. But, lately, I feel that one should post regularly on social platforms even to get into the feed of their friends and family. Otherwise, there’s a good chance of being forgotten.
Even if we manage to appear in others' feeds, our posts shouting out achievements or life updates rarely spark meaningful conversations. Instead, they are merely scrolled past with an occasional like or a comment if we’re lucky. We scroll through the highlights of lives we were once part of. I am no exception.
It all makes me wonder — have the bonds that once meant so much to us been reduced to nothing but flashes of dopamine? The thought disturbs me.
We are collectively failing to nourish meaningful relationships in our lives. Technology has strengthened our connection, but weakened our relationships. It’s time we take back control and nourish our real-world relationships before they fade to digital dust.