I’m embarrassed to say that being the Master of Ceremonies this week was a huge learning experience. I had never used Twitter or Instagram before and not knowing how to use them made me feel like an out-of-touch dad.

Initially, the learning curve combined with the normal stresses of the week reinforced my disinterest with social media. It seemed like such an unnecessary obligation. I thought, why should I tweet about an article instead of telling someone about it in person? Why should I take a picture of a noteworthy moment instead of simply letting the moment wash over me? I still ponder whether or not taking a picture makes one a spectator rather than a participant.

 But then I realized how much I was being exposed to. I had no idea where to begin so I went through the previous curators’ work. I was unaware how much I would enjoy looking at Instagram pictures of Bapst and tweets from William Shakespeare. Social media exposed me to avenues of dialogue I would not have known through conversation.

 I understand the arguments that social media creates barriers by artificializing human interaction. Face-to-face conversation is simply more personal. And I have seen people who cannot talk because all they can do is text. But these social media zombies should not ruin it for the rest of us. Social media’s impersonality was off-putting initially, but I soon realized it had an unparalleled breadth.  Face-to-face conversation cannot reach the masses in the same way Facebook and Twitter can. Social media may not have the depth of human conversation, but it justifies that by connecting people who would never have interacted with each other previously.

Social media is clearly ingrained in our culture now. It is, perhaps, what defines this generation. After struggling to learn the ropes this week, I realized I needed to participate more. There’s too much to miss out on. The cost of taking a few minutes to check Twitter is far less than the cost of falling out of touch with the world.