Love In The Time Of Social Media Poem by Sanjana Swaroop

Call me old fashioned or technologically ill equipped,
You tell me that love is real but romanticism is dead.
Wading through this inter-web, I am lost for sure.
I tried dating in the 21st century but I don't see the allure.

Step out from behind your virtual alter ego
And let me introduce you,
To organic beings with organic feelings.
When did human relationships get this connected,
Intertwined, dependent on likes and validation returned in kind?
And yet people have never been so isolated;
In the name of 'self care', selfishly doling out love in dozes meted.
I refuse to be reduced to the sum of my stories and shares.
They are part life, part fiction anyway.
But you are not paying close attention.

Stop trying to tell me that there are only two types of people in the world.
I get that generalisation is efficient,
But don't you see the number of people suffering from identity crisis,
All just to try and into one of your boxes?
I refuse to subscribe to your rough categorisation.
It is our individuality that sets us free.
But you are too afraid to be.

Stop avoiding meaningful conversation by deflecting with a joke.
My thoughtful messages deserve more from you than 'cool, dank, savage or dope'.
I would rather equip our conversations with randomness,
Thoughtfulness, occasional thoughtlessness, wit, humour and imagination.
Build in each other a strength, trust and confidence.
I refuse to believe that memes alone can fill what is left between us, unsaid.
Lean on me, and you'll see I am more than words sent, delivered and read.
But you've already moved on to the next hottest trend.

Stop measuring the depth of our conversations in streaks, likes and comments.
Because your attention span doesn't last longer than a replayed snap,
Doesn't mean I must condense my being into able and digestible boomerang.
All these meme shares, and subverted profile and status wars
Cannot be substitute to genuine discourse.
Can't you even tell I am frustrated with these games without hashtag descriptors?
I refuse to believe that eggplant emoji
Are all that is left of 'intimacy'.
What if I abide by an older definition?
But you don't care until it turns viral.

I don't expect you to write me love letters daily,
Or woo me at my balcony
Or serenade me with an original composition
Or catch me if I ever swooned.
But if this is what dating looks like now:
Building up our virtual screens into solid walls,
Then, I guess love in the time of social media
Is all but doomed