This morning, I was perusing my Twitter feed, and came across this post:

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Could you just imagine the footage we would have if we all had smartphones and Instagram 12 years ago?

12 years ago, I had just started my freshman year of college. The most exciting technological item I had was my very own desktop computer. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram didn't exist, my email account had a Yahoo.com attached to it, and Friendster was the highlight of social networking. On that morning up in Boston, I heard the news from panicked phone calls, fellow students and the television – we were all stuck in front of one set or another for hours ,moving from one hallmate's space to another, dazed and horrified by that video that seemed to play over and over.

It was impossible to get in touch with anyone in New York for most of the day, and friends abroad had an easier time reaching me on my landline telephone.

Eventually, images from Ground Zero fanned out across the internet; they were seemingly everywhere. Each set tuned to news networks played the graphic, gut wrenching attacks over and over; it was impossible not to feel ill each time they hit the screen. And this morning, when I saw this tweet suggesting that we'd have more footage – more in-depth images and firsthand reports from Ground Zero, all I could think was “what a good thing smartphones didn't exist. What a good thing that this flood of information was somewhat restricted to the media. And what a good thing that  people's dignity was preserved.”

9/11 was a tragedy. Some people were far more affected than others, and I think that their personal hell being the subject of tagged Instagram videos and posts, Tweets and Facebook images is entirely disrespectful to what these individuals went through. In eagerness to overshare, people forget how their status update, video, or pictures can be viewed by others – especially those suffering personally from a major event. And while it would have been another channel of communication for loved ones to reach out to others, to find out if they were safe, it is also open to insensitive, sensational displays.

So while promoting and connecting and sharing can be positive and is now a reality – whether we like it or not – it's essential to remember that sometimes, we just need to put down the phones and be. Because everything does not have to appear online.

What do you think? Would you have wanted social networking to be as prolific 12 years ago as today?