Appy Days

Nicola Carroll, senior account executive, Clarion Communications

Has social media made us a lazy nation? Not only do we keep in contact these days via social networks, forums and blogs but we now also seemingly rely on apps to tell us where we are, what to eat and how to manage our busy lives.

There’s an ongoing debate about whether social media is a good thing or not, and while I sit firmly on the positive side of the fence, I’m continually stunned by our reliance on smartphones to get us through the day.

For example, when I had a problem with my laptop recently, I didn’t reach for the manual that came with the machine or pop into the shop where I bought it for some advice - instead I tweeted Lenovo to ask for suggestions on how to fix the problem and received an answer in minutes, which sure enough solved the issues. Similarly, when meeting up with friends, the date, time and place will all be arranged by a combination of Facebook, tweets and texts - it’s easy to arrange everything without once actually speaking to a friend, taxi or restaurant (unless we decide to make a Face Time call for a change…).

There are a whole host of apps out there which mean we don’t have to talk to or see people face-to-face to get jobs done.  But is it really healthy to get through one day to the next without going into the supermarket to shop for groceries, or picking up the phone to arrange an appointment? What is for sure is that the craze to use social media wherever possible shows no sign of going anywhere soon.