The Perks of Living in the Digital Age

Millennials are often frowned upon for being glued to our screens. Older generations shame us and our technology addicted peers, and T.V. shows like Black Mirror paint a haunting portrait of the potential dangers of a society consumed by screens, likes and swipes. But don’t discard your Macbook just yet – there are some serious upsides to being logged in.

Like many young people before me, I’ve recently found myself in the situation of having to find a new living arrangement at short notice. I decided to move in with my auntie as a (hopefully) short-term solution. One night, as I was scrolling through the likes of Fairy Floss and Flatmates, I found myself asking her, “How did you find housemates before the internet?”

“In the classifieds, I guess,” she shrugged.

It got me thinking about how lucky I was to live in a generation where we no longer have to take a chance on a few words in the Sunday paper in order to find our next housemate. With apps like Instagram and Facebook being so prolific, it’s now possible to glean a variety of information about a person (from where they study, work and live to their musical taste, hobbies and favourite restaurants) before deciding if they’re someone you’d like to share your space with. To me, that sounds a whole lot safer then meeting up with some random from the back pages of a newspaper.

Maybe technology isn’t so harmful after all.

Take that, baby boomers.