I would like to introduce guest blogger, Emmy Award winner,
KGAN weatherman and a man I am proud to call my friend to Fortitude, Grin &
Grow... Justin Roberts. I can’t tell you the exact moment when I met Justin. We
probably first met at his station for a chef segment or some other PR related
interaction. However, I can tell you the exact moment when Justin and I became
friends.
On the surface, everyone can see that Justin is a talented,
friendly, funny, charismatic man. For those of you who do not know Justin, he
also has one of the biggest hearts I’ve seen. He’s always available to help a
great cause, lift someone’s spirits and be there for a friend.
My niece met Justin when she was around six years old. She
thought he was the coolest guy around, and they were pals from the start. When
she was seven years old, she asked Justin to come over for dinner and to play.
Justin drove from Cedar Rapids to Cedar Falls (a one hour drive) to hang out
with her. She was so happy it made her week! That day he went out of his way to
make a little girl happy, and that was the day I realized he was something
special.
Thank you for being such a great friend to myself and my
family.
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| Halie (my niece) & Justin |
Are We Too Social?
Guest Blogger - Justin Roberts
Almost everyone is on Facebook. We’re also on Twitter,
Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, YouTube, etc. Recent studies show that a majority
of us use a smart phone as an alarm clock and the next thing we do (after
hitting the bathroom and grabbing the first morning cup of coffee) is check our
social media feed. We have to see what we missed. I mean, someone MIGHT have
had a slice of cake that was nothing short of amazing and felt the need to
share a picture. Or the GREATEST recipe for cookies was unearthed by a friend
at 2:26 am while you were asleep, and you don’t want to be the last one to know
about it, and you feel that you’d be doing the world a disservice if you didn’t
share it with everyone that follows you at 6:22 am. Crisis averted!
Now I’m 30, which doesn’t make me old by ANY stretch of the
imagination, but I remember a time when I didn’t have a smart phone. I didn’t
even have a cellular phone. In fact, I was 18 before I got my first phone and
believe you me, it was anything short of smart. It was one of those flip-phones
that every 30 days, you had to buy a “refill card” with a long mix of letters
and numbers and had to begrudgingly type in every single character correctly to
have another 30 days of service.
Somewhere along the way, I’d usually enter a wrong number or letter, or
transpose the position… this took, on average, three attempts and at least 10
minutes. There was no Facebook. There was no Twitter. There wasn’t even any
texting. HOW did I survive?? I get anxious even thinking about it now.
Now flash forward to 2014. 5 and 6 year olds are walking
around with smartphones. They have social media pages. Do you realize that
since 2012, hardly a child in America is born without instantly having pictures
being blasted around the world. A newborn American child has no privacy. At
all. We’re celebrating 6 month birthdays… One month birthdays... We’re even
celebrating Babies’ first poops!! Come on people Let’s take a step back and
think: How would YOU feel if someone was constantly following you around with a
camera or camcorder and sharing your every moment with the rest of the world?
That’s got to be a little un-nerving to say the least
Businesses use social media to make themselves more
accessible. I understand that. The Fresh Market down here in Cedar Rapids does
a weekly feature on Tuesdays where they send all their followers exclusive
deals. So does Target. HyVee. My television station uses social media for
contests, promotions, news updates, etc. ALMOST EVERY ONE uses social media.
The other day I got asked to add my parish priest, Father Reasoner, on
Facebook. This lead to a moment of epiphany “Do I really want my priest to see
everything I do on Facebook?” I mean, I’m the guy who goes to confession and
absolutely HAS to sit behind the curtain, even though I know he recognizes my
voice. It still makes me feel better. So as of this morning, my friends list on
Facebook includes family members, former teachers, former co-workers, and four
“Men of the Cloth”. It makes you stop and think about what you put out on
Facebook, now doesn’t it
“So what is this long-winded guy building up to here?” you
ask? It’s simple. When do we reach the point that we’re over-doing it?
How many times have you gone to an event only to see
peoples’ eyes buried in their phone or iPad? Here are a few recently that I’ve
encountered: School play, movie, concert, football game, wedding reception,
dinner, and my all-time favorite so far, funeral service.
Now for me to say I’m not a social media junkie would be a
lie. No one rocks a selfie like me (as my mom, she HATES it when I take a
selfie although it's usually for work). So while admitting my own fault, I ask
you this: Are we there yet? Are we to the place as a society where we don’t
know HOW to talk to anyone else or make good conversation? Is it easier to send
someone a text rather than call them or write them a status on their Facebook
wall even though you’re sitting RIGHT NEXT TO THEM??!?
I was recently out at a restaurant and made a couple of
observations. The first was a mom and daughter who were clearly on a girls’
day. The girl was trying to talk to her mom about her day at school and what
her friends were doing/saying. The mother had no response. Mom’s eyes were so
locked onto the phone that her little girl could have gotten up and left and
she (mom) wouldn’t have noticed for at least 20 minutes. Here’s the worst part:
the little girl (I’d guess she was 8 or 9) was heartbroken. She’s got mom all
to herself for the evening and they’re supposed to be sharing special time
together. No distractions of school or homework or, let’s assume, dad or little
brother (I can say that by the way, I’m an annoying older brother). Just her
and mom. This little girl was devastated. After trying to talk to mom a couple
more times, she just gave up and started coloring on her place mat. She looked
hurt and rejected. It hurt ME to see it.
The second was a date between two mid-twenty-somethings.
They were trying to make awkward conversation. “So what are your hobbies?”, “Oh,
you’re the oldest? Nevermind. I remember you saying that now.” This lasted
about four minutes and then they both went back to their phones. Didn’t really
talk to each other much the rest of the dinner.
So I put it to you: Are you engaged the RIGHT way? Do you
still know how to carry on a real Person-to-Person conversation when one
arises? Are you one of those people who has to share absolutely everything,
every hour, every day people? Are you engaging your children and those around
you in non-technology-driven interaction? Does the thought of being away from
your phone for more than 20 minutes cause you terror and profuse sweating?
There is help. There is an answer!
Put down the phone. Pick up the conversation! Try it
tomorrow, only for a day. Then try for two days next weekend. You might just
learn more from a five minute conversation than you’d ever learn from scrolling
through a Newsfeed for hours.
Now that I think about it, this would make a great status
update!
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Justin Roberts
KGAN
Weatherman |
