Crystal is into publishing/journalism. She's a "cool" person. I would not lie to you.
Technology is making us antisocial
By Crystal Auffray
We know them all—Facebook, YouTube, iPods, blogs, Blackberries, email, text messaging, MySpace. These familiar gadgets and technologies were purportedly created to make our lives easier and more fun but are our lives really getting better as a result of new and improved wireless devices? Can we really share and connect more than we did prior to being permanently plugged in?
One thing’s for sure: we’re buying more into the idea that networking, maintaining friendships, and building relationships is made easier by firing off quick emails, “Facebooking,” or texting. It may be faster, but is this type of communication really better than face-to-face interaction?
We’re sacrificing precious time with the people who mean most to us in the interest of saving minutes and hours. Technology is making it so that we don’t actually have to physically “see” our close friends and family to feel close to them. But what is really happening is a fundamental disconnect in the way that we interact with each other. Now, more than ever, people seem to be able to relate less on a personal level when they’re faced with real-life social situations.
Now, we all have the ability to have hundreds, some of us even thousands, of virtual friends. But do these numbers really add up to meaningful associations? For the vast majority of us it isn’t humanly possible to speak with these people on a daily, weekly, or (sometimes) even monthly basis. Where’s the merit in that? I would argue that social media is helping us to further isolate ourselves rather than becoming increasingly connected. The next time you reach for your Blackberry’s key pad, I dare you to dial a number instead of sending a message. Believe me, you can do it!
