Sunday, July 29, 2012

Why should kids talk when they can IM?

When I was a kid, being “social” meant to engage in face-to-face conversation, poker, board games and Sunday dinner.  Mom had to drag us into the house for bedtime and there wasn’t an inch of our neighborhood that we hadn’t explored.

Now? Advances in technology have brought social tools like twitter and Facebook to get us connected.  I’m hooked too. 

But have we really advanced?

  • The PlayStation allows my son to visit his older cousin online.  They can spend endless hours playing shooting games together, talking smack to newbies, and killing people.
  • The DS allows kids to sit right next to each other, play an entire game together, and never have to say a word to each other.
  • Facebook allows me to see what’s going on in the lives of my old friends.  I can stalk their pages, see what their kids look like, reminisce of the good old days, and never have to say a word to them.
  • Twitter allows me to have casual conversation with a bunch of strangers, and since we’re limited to 140 characters, we always will be strangers.
Admittedly, I’m a “Social” tool addict.  But I wouldn’t be upset if we replaced it all with good-old Sunday dinner, pen pals and town picnics.
How social are you?
Thanks for stopping by.
Please support me with your honesty.
Buffi