Being Connected vs. Connecting

The screen on my touchscreen phone has stopped responding. Ahhh, technology.
 
I don't mean this in a materialistic way, but I enjoy having concrete things. Pictures in albums. Buttons on phones. CDs. I'm kinda sad knowing that all of these things will be obsolete in the coming years. I guess it's true that society does evolve and technology is the force that drives the evolution. It's supposed to make our lives easier, more connected. Why, then, does it feel like we never REALLY know people? We're friends on Facebook, follow each other on Twitter, like each others' Instagram pics. But how many real, raw, deep conversations do we have with our "friends"? My wish for society is that we don't lose the ability to really connect with each other, as opposed to being connected.

I have a friend who deleted her facebook account back over the summer. She said she was placing too much value in her facebook interactions and they were starting to affect her on a mental level. She didn't think it was good for her emotional well-being to stay on Facebook. I think part of what she hoped to get out of deleting the account was getting back to connecting on a human level. I don't know yet if she feels she's achieved that, but it's a tempting offer. If we no longer put ourselves out there on these social networks, are we being more or less social? I couldn't delete my social media accounts because I'd feel like I would get forgotten, which happens to be a huge fear of mine. And even though I still have a presence on these platforms, am I any less forgotten? I don't hang out with 99% of my "friends". Is that normal or just sad? No really, I'm asking.

I know that, in most cases, the lives people construct on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are sensationalizing an otherwise unglamorous existence. Hear this: life is not a movie. Come on, be ordinary with me. Or, just follow me on Twitter. :)