Considering the fact that everyone seems to be connected in one electronic form or the other to someone at any given point in the day, we don't seem to communicate very well anymore.
There's Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for keeping track of people. I know people who spend literally hours each day on these programs. There are blackberries, iPhones, cell phones, e-mail, texting, and voice mail for contacting people. And then there's my favorite boogeyman of the technological age--instant messaging. IM is the night stalker of technology. Whoever invented it should be imprisoned on a desert island, with no electrical or wireless access, until flat screen TVs become obsolete. Which, at the rate techno-innovation has been moving, shouldn't take long.
But, back to communication overload--where is all this electronic hoopla getting us? More isolated, with less real-time interaction and more machine-managed relationships.
Think about how we've been isolated by our equipment. Have you ever sat at a conference table during a meeting and watched the person across from you checking his blackberry messages? Were you ever in a conversation with someone who interrupts you to answer a cell phone call? Do you ever get e-mail from the person sitting in the next cubicle? Do you ever see co-workers walk around plugged into their iPods?
I suspect most of us have experienced all of these scenarios, and plenty more. What's wrong with this picture? Too much communications technology, not enough time to talk to people. When a ringtone takes precedence over the person in front of us, we have innovated ourselves out of our social graces and basic good manners.
That's just MHO. If U disagree, feel free 2 contact me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, e-mail, or cell fone--or leave a blog comment.
C-U L8r.
Picture from www.sonofthesouth.net
