Spring Break
Hey! Did u get my text? :) Conversation is dead!
Understanding why interpersonal communication is merely a thing of the past, but you knew that already
Alex McElroy
Issue date: 1/9/09 Section: Diversions
Human interaction is dead. It wasn't a bullet to the head or a fall from a skyscraper. It died slowly, little by little, with many people unaware of its dystrophy, until we woke one morning and, instead of telling our parents, siblings, roommates, "good morning," we stumbled toward a phone to send an impersonal, 160-character description of our sleep.
This is by no means judgment; I'm just as much of an accomplice as everyone else. The first thing I do every morning is check my e-mail, even though I'm sure it'll be nothing but overnight spam - "Free shipping on my next $200 Omaha Steaks purchase? Yes!" But even taking my guilt into account doesn't excuse what's happened: As a society, we no longer know how to communicate verbally. Most of my generation label ourselves as awkward, clumsy-tongued beings that laugh inadvertently and make inappropriate comments, but maybe we do these things because we're used to the assurance of editing our sentences. With Facebook and text messages, we're able to stop, backspace and proceed; but during personal conversations, the face-to-face variety, we're forced to trust our brain's impulses.
Really, when's the last time that any of us have comfortably chatted, joked or flirted without the aid of alcohol or LCD screens? We like to label the baby boomers as lonely and desperate for interaction when they attempt to speak with us - with anyone - in public. It's become strange, even rude, to start talking to someone you don't share a few weeks' of history with. But what if they're conversing because that was their norm, just as it's become our norm to nod politely and turn away from people who try to speak to us in public?
Social utilities like Facebook and MySpace were meant to link the world, but they've done just the opposite. Instead of joining us, they've separated us into "friends" and "everyone else." I'm sure if people were given the choice of who'd they'd feel more comfortable with, a Facebook friend that they'd spoken to maybe twice or a classmate who sat behind them for a whole quarter, most would prefer a conversation with the former, even though they're the weirdo who probably spent their time sifting through names and pictures.
This is by no means judgment; I'm just as much of an accomplice as everyone else. The first thing I do every morning is check my e-mail, even though I'm sure it'll be nothing but overnight spam - "Free shipping on my next $200 Omaha Steaks purchase? Yes!" But even taking my guilt into account doesn't excuse what's happened: As a society, we no longer know how to communicate verbally. Most of my generation label ourselves as awkward, clumsy-tongued beings that laugh inadvertently and make inappropriate comments, but maybe we do these things because we're used to the assurance of editing our sentences. With Facebook and text messages, we're able to stop, backspace and proceed; but during personal conversations, the face-to-face variety, we're forced to trust our brain's impulses.
Really, when's the last time that any of us have comfortably chatted, joked or flirted without the aid of alcohol or LCD screens? We like to label the baby boomers as lonely and desperate for interaction when they attempt to speak with us - with anyone - in public. It's become strange, even rude, to start talking to someone you don't share a few weeks' of history with. But what if they're conversing because that was their norm, just as it's become our norm to nod politely and turn away from people who try to speak to us in public?
Social utilities like Facebook and MySpace were meant to link the world, but they've done just the opposite. Instead of joining us, they've separated us into "friends" and "everyone else." I'm sure if people were given the choice of who'd they'd feel more comfortable with, a Facebook friend that they'd spoken to maybe twice or a classmate who sat behind them for a whole quarter, most would prefer a conversation with the former, even though they're the weirdo who probably spent their time sifting through names and pictures.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Mark
posted 1/09/09 @ 12:34 PM PST
So after one of my friends and I read this article, we realized that alot of the points in this article are very true. We are going to try to break away from the average norm. (Continued…)
Chucky Piff
posted 1/09/09 @ 5:19 PM PST
I stumbled upon this article by accident, but this is a great read. It's sadly the truth, and it kind of sickens me this happened to our society. Like you said, I'm an accomplice to this crime too. (Continued…)
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