Last week, I was sitting in my room working on my homework in my sorority house when I suddenly realized that I was starving. At that point, there was nothing that I wanted more than take- out sushi from Japanee, my favorite restaurant in Bloomington. There were also a plethora of girls who I could ask to go with me, so I decided to text my friend Jennifer, who was currently sitting in the room two doors down from me. After we were texting back and forth, trying to decide on a time to leave, what we wanted to order, who should place the order, etc., I thought to myself...this is absolutely ridiculous! Am I seriously so lazy that I am texting a girl who is literally 25 feet away from me? What has become of us? I could not believe what I had done.
As bad as this sounds, I am sure that so many people can relate to this. We have all been caught "facebook- chatting" the roommate, texting when it is so much easier than calling, and messaging the long- lost friend who really deserves a phone call, or even a letter. Even as little as five years ago, we didn't have all of these websites at our disposal. Have we forgotten how to communicate without them?
I regret to tell you that a tragedy occured in my graduating class of 2008 from Madeira, OH. We were a close- knit grade of only 105 students, and last week, one of my friends passed away. Before I could receive a call from my mom or one of my best friends from high school, I logged onto my facebook account, and saw that many kids in the Madeira High School Network had updated their statuses to "R.I.P. John Carney". And this is how I found out that a boy I had played soccer with, participated in theatre with, the one who called me "Freckle Face" to mock me since second grade, had died. Not only was I devastated that this happened, but I was shocked that I would discover a death so close to me over a Social Networking Website. This just proves what kind of world we live in, so connected 24/7. It is almost impossible to get a break from it all.
Old- Fashioned Social Networking is still important to remember in today's world. Face- to- face interactions can be so meaningful today, and even though you must keep up with websites to network and stay ahead, just don't get too carried away with it all. I saw a really interesting commercial on t.v. that I thought was very humorous. Coleman, the camping company, is proclaiming themselves as "The Original Social Networking Site" in their latest marketing campaign.
Here is the link to the commercial, which I believe is very clever. I will be one of the first people to admit that I am addicting to Facebook, but I also just want to stress to readers out there that sometimes it is wise to go back to Social Networking in the Old- Fashioned Way.
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI am truly sorry for your loss and I know what you are going through. In the beginning of October, someone I have known since elementary school, Matt Wright, passed away.
I was lucky to find out by my mother before I logged onto facebook, but once I did log on I got disgusted by the posts on facebook. As the day went on it acted as a popularity contest, almost like you weren't someone unless you knew or had a memory of Matt. I admit that I threw up a status stating a small memory of him, but it was a memory that only few people would understand.
I also feel it is inappropriate that people started commenting on his girlfriend’s wall. To me that seemed rude. If I had a boyfriend that passed away, the last way I would want someone to tell me they were sorry was through facebook. If you really feel sorry for her send her a card, flowers, or attend the funeral. Even a text message or an email would be more personal than a facebook comment.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it back home from the funeral, but I heard that people were updating their status at the wake. It is really disturbing to see how our generation handles something as sensitive as death, especially a teenage death.
Again, I am extremely sorry for your loss and I agree that people need to stick to old-fashioned networking techniques and save facebooking and twitter for less formal occasions.
You are not alone in saying that you have texted someone in the same room as you, Facebook chatted a friend nearby, and lost personal touch with some close friends due to the availability of social networks. At dinner last night, I was sitting with an older woman who made a comment about "all the girls having their phones glued to their side." I looked around, and at a dinner table of 12 girls, all phones were laid out next to everyone's plates, ready for the next text or juicy phone call.
ReplyDeleteWhat has happened to old fashioned communication? What could possibly be so important that I can't even take a twenty minute dinner break without feeling like I've missed out on a serious chunk of information flow? I have to admit, sometimes I want to just turn my phone off. While I love being able to stay connected with my peers, it is also a pain to be expected to respond whenever contacted. Sometimes panic is created if my mom calls me but I'm in the shower and can't answer. Since she knows how attached I am to my phone, she automatically assumes something is wrong if I do not answer.
I'm sorry that you had to learn of your friend's passing through the internet Lauren. At a time when I'm sure you needed personal contact, all you had was a computer screen in front of you to allow you to process your thoughts.
We are now in a connected age with no turning back. It would be nice if there was some way to slowly turn back to our roots without giving up the progress that has already been made.