Call me old fashioned
Posted on Jan 22, 2008 By Matt GoldbergOn Monday night my friends and I joined a bowling league. It was a spur of the moment decision, completely not predetermined. It all started a few hours earlier when we just had the seemingly innocent idea to go bowling.
Going into the bowling alley and signing up for the league seemed like a huge throwback in time. Add to that the wood paneled walls and huge two-tone monitors and it was clear that we were far removed from the world of blogging.
Among many other things, the one prevalent thought I couldn’t get out of my mind is how much our society has changed. The transitions we have made from old to new technologies, and the way that it influences our daily lives, over the last decade have been amazing; here are some of the ones I personally miss.
Phone Calls
Gone are the days of long conversations on land line phones. Gone are messages on phone machines with endearing greeting messages from the family. Remember how fast your heart beat the first time you called the girl/boy of your dreams in middle school? Now sms and text messages take the emotion, and some would say fun, out of every conversation. It’s almost like today’s society hides behind the internet and cell phone superhighway.
Letters
Yes, the kind you receive in the mail. There is something whimsical (if nothing else nostalgic) about receiving a hand written letter from a loved one in the mail. Try sending your current crush a hand written note. If you don’t receive a look like your crazy, you’re sure to get them to melt with adoration. While you’re at it send a note to the parents and grandparents as well. On a side note, follow up correspondences after job interviews should include an e-mail of gratitude and an actual letter in the mail – I assure you, your chances of being hired will dramatically increase.
Special Events
Come on - raise your hand if you ever remember your friend’s birthday without the help of Facebook. I bet there aren’t many hands raised out there. If you don’t believe me change your date of birth on Facebook to a date a week from now and see how many people send you birthday wishes. (Be prepared, it’s pretty disturbing) How about anniversaries, parties, and wedding invitations – all of which I have received notices about and more, strictly through Facebook, over the course of the last year.
Today’s world is so fast-paced it leaves little room for real emotion, compassion, and sincerity. I won’t be the first to say that maybe it’s time to stop and think about what we really want to accomplish as a human race. I am not advocating to not enjoy and utilize technology for all its worth, but at what point do we ensure that us as humans differ from robots.
What transition from favorite pastimes are you missing / growing wary of?
Posted In: Transitions
Comment by Ryan on the January 23rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
This is a great post. While blogging, social media, and every other kind of new technology is great, what about the good old fashioned connections? What about sitting on the phone until 2 AM talking to your girlfriend, with no distractions?
Technology can turn is into robots, not because we won’t have any emotions, but because we won’t know how to connect.
Comment by Myco on the January 29th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I really liked this note. Being a communications major, this topic has constantly been brought up in all my classes. In general, I personally think that while all this technology and online social sites (facebook, myspace, etc) have definitely made networking easier, it’s also made our communication efforts impersonable, and if anything, more informal. It’s way easier and less intimidating to send someone a facebook message or write on their wall than to ring them up. And it’s way more convenient and less forward to shoot someone a text message or IM than going up to them and saying the same thing. Ironically, these are all the reasons why facebook, myspace & text messaging have become popular … they’ve made communications more casual, convenient, and less scary.. but at the same time we have to wonder how it’s affected our social skills…
either way, good point.
Comment by Matt Goldberg on the January 29th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Myco-
Thanks for the response, I am glad I touched on a relevant discussion happening in classes across the country, if not the world. I in no way discredit technology, but its fun to compare and analyze where we are today and if it is indeed the right direction to be going down. The one thing I do worry about, and agree with you upon, is that public conversing will become a lost art. Ironic we are sitting here using the same devices we are referring to though.
MSG