All my friends are virtual

About six months ago, the title of this post randomly popped into my head. In truth, it was more of a ‘line’ that I thought could one day be turned into a song if I could be bothered. But, as usual, I didn’t give it any further thought.

Fast forward to this evening, I sat down to do some coding and for some reason that line came back to me. Then the next line. And the next. So I scribbled it all down; just couldn’t stop. An hour or so later, feel free to enjoy (or not) my dystopian vision of the end of the world via social media, in eight stanzas.

All my friends are virtual,
I see them every day.
Through avatars and Facebook posts,
They have so much to say.

When sad, I post in sympathy,
Good news, replies in kind.
Emoticons for all you do,
I ‘Like’ your frame of mind.

Photos of your womb you post,
Your child learning to crawl.
Snapshots from your hectic life,
Condensed upon your Wall.

Though transient the data,
From distances we share.
Pixels zip across the sky,
In lieu of being there.

With society connected,
Your life is in my hand.
Swipe tap tap, “I’m in your town,
If you’ve nothing planned.”

But meeting in a restaurant,
To silences we’re prone.
The art of talking face-to-face,
Eroded by the phone.

This media that’s social,
Is clearly inhumane.
A Tweeting, empty substitute,
Where contact used to reign.

See, all my friends are spread across,
The digital abyss.
With glass of wine, at screen I sit,
Is there more to life than this?

— Stef Dawson, June 2014