Template Thoughts and Instant Reactions

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Social Media is eliminating the need for us to use words and form full sentences. We can just like an update or applaud an accomplishment without so much as uttering two words or worse thinking two words. Our reactions have become standard and templatized either in the form of emojis or a chatbot writing things for you and you just have to press send. 

The Emoji-fication of our lives.

Gone are the days when loved ones would write pages over pages to each other or coming back to reality, those irritating and long messages on WhatsApp. The weight of our expressions and responses is now carried by little yellow digital icons and a variety of ways to express them. They seem to be creeping into professional conversations as well. 


Chatbots speaking to chatbots.

In the realm of generative AI and omnipresent chatbots waiting eagerly to finish your sentences, much like a head-over-heels love couple during their honeymoon phase, we are soon going to forget how to write. I remember last year I was having a conversation with an old colleague of mine on LinkedIn messages and we had an entire conversation without having to think or type. It was very obviously the LinkedIn chatbot talking to itself. Or have you noticed when you are typing a message to a friend on WhatsApp, it again tries to anticipate and complete your sentence. It is trying to give you a template or pre-packaged response before you have had the time to finish your thoughts. 

I am not saying that it is all bad. The annoying chat bubble options at the bottom of Microsoft Teams chat have been helpful on occasions when an annoying colleague just would not stop messaging you. Our communication or conversation with fellow human beings is becoming quite formulaic with a lack of unique thought and spelling errors. 

In the realm of likes, emojis, and chatbot-generated responses, the need for constructing meaningful sentences is dwindling. We can now express approval or celebrate achievements with a mere tap, eliminating the effort of articulating thoughts or sentiments. Our reactions, once unique expressions of individuality, have now become standardized, whether through the universal language of emojis or the efficiency of chatbots crafting responses on our behalf. In this world of instant reactions, the simplicity of a click has replaced the expression found in thoughtful words.

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