I was speaking with one of those people just last night. I'm using the word "speaking" in a very general sense. I was actually chatting online. I made the statement, "We really should have hung out more back then. We would have had so much fun!" I guess when you have just left home for the first time, gone away to college, and you're surrounded by all of these new people, that you get sort of obsessed with some people and don't spend time with some of the people that you really would have enjoyed if you had given it a chance.
Social networking has changed my outlook on friends dramatically. I look forward to getting online at night and catching up with someone else. And I realize now just how many close friendship I really missed out on back in the day. I wonder how friendships will morph because of social networking though? It's not the same as sitting down across from someone and looking them into the eye. We type into this space and someone types back in response. Are we more prone to say things in this kind of venue then we would if we had to look at someone at say it? What about the challenge of reading someone's emotions? Won't we run into misunderstandings more often because we won't know exactly how someone meant something that they said? And what about the physical portion of friendship - giving someone a fist pound, a hug, or a handshake? Will we become numb to the need for human touch? It's also easier to pretend to be someone that we're not when there is no risk of someone running into us.
I'm interested in seeing how this plays out 10-20 years from now. Watching friendships that were built by typing words back and forth to each other and how they last, how they develop, and and how they continue to change.
What are your thoughts on this new form a friendships? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.
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ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you. I love catching up with old friends, and even getting to know people I didn't know very well back then. But, you do have to watch out because if you don't know someone very well you could very easily take something they "say" the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteThat is why I tend to over use the smiley faces. I figure if I use that then they will know I'm just kidding. At least, that is what I HOPE will happen. ;-)
I do worry about us losing the social graces we should all have, just because we get used to having a screen between us rather than being face to face.