Smart phone? Social butterfly?

Samantha Dent

Open laptop, connect to the web and the first site entered is Facebook, the fastest growing social networking site in the world. Social networking is growing faster than the Gautrain can reach OR Tambo from Sandton. It can be accessed from any portal, especially with the newest techno trend… The smartphone.

America’s problem?

America seems to be the biggest culprit where social media is concerned. We, in South Africa, mainly usually use our social networks for exactly that, social networking. The American lifestyle is quick and the people live on their phones. In a recent survey, created by Zach Epstein, it was found that 33% of the Americans who took part would “sooner give up sex for a week than go without their phones for the same period of time.” A further 70% said they would rather give up alcohol, and 22%would part ways with their toothbrushes.

New age

But why? Society, nowadays, is so career driven that the chance missing a call, email or reminder is inexcusable. Knowing that an email can be answered as soon as you get it is seen as “a gift from the technology Gods”. The rise in population of Smart phones has made it impossible to stay away from the office.

Multi-tasker…

The added incentive of accessing social networking sites such as, Facebook and Twitter on your Blackberry Torch while on a treadmill at the gym has made communication easier. Solving crises at work while at gym? Seems like a dream. In the same survey, Epstein learns that a shocking 66% of smartphone owners admit to taking their phone to bed with them; and 31% check their phones in the cinema.

Small world

Social media is easy to access, and any 10 year old with access to the internet probably has a profile on Facebook. Without Facebook, we wouldn’t have come in contact with that friend that moved to Australia in your youth, you wouldn’t see what half your Matric class is up to now through the photos they share. Let’s face it, social media has done two (if not many more) radical things to our lives, it’s made the world a very small place to live, as well as much less private place to live.

According to British blogger Jake Hird, Facebook claims that half of its users log into Facebook every day, that’s a cool 175 million people on one site in 24 hours. Twitter, according to Hird, has 75 million active users on their site.

Ask yourself…

Are you addicted to staring at the screen of your shiny smartphone? Do you love scrolling through your NewsFeed on Facebook every 5 minutes to see if anything new has appeared? If you do, then you need to stop and think about how much of life you are missing out on, in the real world. So step away from the laptop/ blackberry / iPad or whatever mode of technology you are using, and experience real life social networking… face to face with those close to you. Don’t become a statistic.

THE SOUNDRACK OF OUR LIVES

Everyone has that one song that reminds him or her of a special, funny or even sad moment in their lives, the soundtracks of our lives are made up of memorable songs that link up with close memories.

Imagine…

Imagine if your life had a soundtrack, and every mood, every action and every word had a different note. Imagine for one minute what the background music in your life would be. Now go one step further, add lyrics. Do you find yourself thinking of a specific song? Or are you making one up in your mind? Think back on all the good times in your lives, what song makes you think of those memories? For me I have countless songs, for instance my “happy song” at the moment is “Safety Dance” by the band Men without Hats (made popular again by the TV program “Glee”), this song makes me feel like I can do anything.

Don’t worry, be happy

Happy memories are always linked to a song, no matter how much you try to deny this. Think back to your wedding day, graduation, the last day of high school. What song reminds you of all of these moments? Songs for leaving High School for me were “I’m so Excited” by the Pointer Sisters and Whitney Housten’s “Greatest Love of All” Your wedding song, will always be a special song as it was picked out by you and signifies a lot in your life.

We’re all going on summer holiday…

Going on holiday? Taking a break from the office for a short stint of beach sand and relaxation; a mojito in your hand and your ready to chill. What songs come to mind? The Beach Boys, the Beatles, or Cliff Richards pop into my mind just thinking of the beach. Christmas holidays are filled with cheer as “Jingle Bells” blasts through the sound system. Memories made with music in the background.

Don’t Rain on my Parade

Music can be used inspire and to motivate us to carry on and keep our heads up. Artists like Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte and even heavy rockers My Chemical Romance have sung songs to motivate the youth of today, sort of ‘anthems’ that become cult favourites. If you’re having a bad day, and nothing seems to be going your way, which song do you turn to, to relieve a bit of the stress? As a fan of the show tunes, my personal favourite would be Barbara Streissand’s “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from the Broadway hit “Funny Girl”. When that song plays through my car speakers I know I can commit to getting through the day.

Greatest hits…

Memories, whether happy or sad, can be remembered in a number of ways, photos always capture the mood and if you’re lucky enough, there’s a video recording. But next time you’re driving in your car and a song comes on the radio, suddenly a memory flashes across your mind consider this, if you could link your memories to songs, will you only fill a single CD; or will you have a box set?

Wine and Chocolate

The legendary beauty, Marilyn Monroe, once said that “diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” Madonna even sang about this in her wildly popular song, “Material Girls.” But how happy does a rock really make a woman? Diamonds have never mended a broken heart; diamonds are hard and cold and only really bring about happiness once, or twice, in a woman’s life. Wine and chocolate, on the other hand, can be enjoyed as often as we want. And isn’t that what we want most in a “best friend”?

Why whine, when there’s wine,

Wine, regardless of colour, is a fun addition to any gathering; add a chocolate fondue and you have a party. Even the great author, Ernest Hemmingway, had this to say about wine, “Wine … offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than possibly any other purely sensory thing which may be purchased." Who would have thought that a drink made from pressing a large amount of grapes together, along with some other ingredients, and leaving it to ferment in barrels for years, would make a woman relax? Wine, according to the English Poet Lord Byron “cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires the young, and makes weariness forget his toil.”

… Give them chocolate!!!

Although us ladies are rather conscious of our figures nowadays, there is one thing that makes most of us weak at the knees, and no ladies, it’s not Brad Pitt (unless, of course he’s holding a box). It’s chocolate; dark, milky, white, nutty, or even the minty kind, us girls can’t resist that smooth creamy, chocolaty taste. So what if we’re trying to fit into that pair of jeans, or have a wedding the next day; we will always have a soft spot for chocolate. Malin Ackerman (Hollywood actress) says, “I can't walk by chocolate without eating it.” Even the beautiful Audrey Hepburn had a love for chocolate, “a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.”

Nothing soothes a broken heart quite like a box of chocolates and a box of tissues. Chocolate always has a way to make the heart smile even though it feels as though it’s been smashed into pieces. I, personally, think that the chocolate melts to form glue, and this makes your heart whole again. It may not look pretty at the time, but it helps.

Fun times ahead

Wine is a drink best shared among friends, and chocolate is a perfect addition. Wine and chocolate make social gathering festive and fun at any time of the year. Best friends are the same, they cheer you up when you’re feeling down, are always up for a great time, and any amount of time with them makes life a lot less dreary. Wine and chocolate are the new best friends, diamonds are however, always welcome.

Girls

Being a girl in society nowadays is as they say, “a piece of cake.” I mean who doesn’t like being looked down upon by the elders as they walk down the cramped aisles of the local grocery store? Which girl doesn’t like the constant pressures that media puts on them about their bodies?

What I just said, I hope no-one takes as true, as it’s completely false. What normal girl would say that? The pressure, the scrutiny; to be a girl nowadays is not easy at all. A girl can’t express her own, personal style without it being critiqued by panel of snooty “professionals” assessing the cut and fabric. Does this really matter? At least this happens in the world of celebrity, but how does this type of judgmental attitude toward others’ choices translate to the everyday girl walking along any street? Who died and made Joan Rivers the authority over whom and what should be worn?

Style is supposed to be about expressing yourself to the outside world. Some prefer smart attire, whereas others prefer to be casual. It’s your CHOICE. No-one should dictate your style. No-one should have to conform to the masses just because of what someone says in a magazine or a TV show. People find it funny that some don’t wear labels, well this is where I say that it doesn’t matter what you wear, or who you wear. It’s about how you wear it. If you feel uncomfortable in a certain style, then change it until you do. No one person can force you to wear something you don’t feel comfortable or confident in… and it shows. Someone who spends the days in jeans and an oversized sweat shirt might be confident in that, may not feel perfectly comfortable in a mini dress and 9 inch stilettos.

But why do we listen to these so-called “fashion experts”? Do they know what your personal style is? NO!! They don’t even know you. But we all fall in the trap they set for us in the glossy pages of the fashion rags that line the shelves in the supermarkets. Why do we buy into the hype of looking “hot”? Is Paris really that much of a trend-setter? I really hope not considering the track record she’s laid out for herself lately. Are the Kardiashians really keeping it real? Why do we follow after these wealthy people and try so hard to emulate what they do?.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, if you believe that you are beautiful then you will glow. There is nothing more beautiful than a woman who is confident with whom she is, confident in her own skin and is projecting her true self into the world. There is nothing uglier than a fake, a carbon copy of something else. Fakeness is unattractive, and oozes selfishness – the type of selfishness that goes hand-in-hand with serious confidence issues. If you can’t be yourself, how do you expect to pull off another person? Sooner or later that “other” person will become you, and where will that leave the real person?