I'm torn. Part of me ADORES technology...I'd marry it if I could...or at least have a torrid affair. I love my iPod Touch. It's a God-send. It's my address book, my stereo, my TV, my mail, my games, my shopping, all rolled into one.
I love my laptop. It's enabled me to go back to school conveniently, shop for hard-to-find birthday gifts, keep in touch with friends and family, store my pictures, and do my taxes without having to pay H&R Block.
Don’t even get me STARTED with my digital camera...well, TECHNICALLY I'm doing without right now until I buy a new Cybershot, but anyway....I love the instant gratification it gives me, I loved snapping a gazillion pictures in NYC and DC this past fall, I love capturing special moments and sharing them and then storing them away without all the fuss and muss of stacks of photos that just collect dust.
Photoshop...what can I say???
And now I’ve embraced blogging!
HOWEVER, I've started to cross the line into hate when it comes to social networking and the constant line of communication it has opened. We are a nation that thrives on being overly-stimulated. Why we need to constantly interact and speak our minds, I'll never know. It's opened up a whole world of bullying, intimidation, feelings of inadequacy. That, I DON'T love. Constant status updates, tweets, and interjections feel like an interruption and exhaust me. We, and that does include ME (I’m not immune) don’t know when to turn it “off” at times.
My job has changed and for better or for worse, I've have to take up residence in this world as our online community manager. Unfortunately this includes living in FB and Twitter most of my day. I SEE the constant communication and I've started to ask myself...
WHY?
What happened to saving up for the dinner table discussion or the phone call once a week to mom? What happened to the excitement of sharing the day’s events as something to look forward TO, as in, THE FUTURE, saving it as something special? I think in the process, that little part of our brain that edits what we say and how we say it has also shrunk; we tend to blurt things out quite easily these days, sometimes regrettably, and sometimes with serious consequences. ..and then there’s nothing left as we sit in silence with nothing but lasagna and tossed salad between us. How boring!
Sorry for my tirade, but it's something I've been struggling with for weeks now. While I see the INSURMOUNTABLE advantages of the technological age (advancements in medicine, safe and reliable transportation, etc.), I also see and feel the side-effects of so much activity.
How do you feel? Do you use Facebook and/or Twitter or any social networking?
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