Thursday, April 30, 2009

Daily Drag and Daily Delight?????

Facebook! I'm thinking that all this 'communication', i.e., Facebook, Twitter, My Space is really not. It's all so fascinating and I'm just as guilty, but over the weekend, our entire family gathered, for my mother's 80th birthday, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All the cousins were there (sans Max who is in Thailand). But I know that most are on Facebook and they are constantly texting one another. But sitting next to one another, at a dinner table, there barely spoke two words to each other. I'm just wondering if all this 'virtual' communication is somehow stunting their ability to interface with one another? Don't know. It might be an interesting socialogical study. Went to a meeting yesterday with other cultural educators of Miami. One of the invitees was a dean, at the University of Miami, who must be in her late 60's. She was saying that for all our attempts to bring folks into cultural institutions, vis-a-vie electronics, it may not, in fact be working. That 'kids' who are inculcated into the world of technology can "just go online to see a museum or hear a concert". What are we losing in the process of gaining more technological advancements?

3 comments:

Sally said...

I wonder too, but it's here to stay. It's how these kids communicate, whether we like it or not. How was your mom's birthday? What did she say about the book? Do you have pictures?

Your friendly, neighborhood Blog guru said...

Think back to pre-TV days (a little before our time). Parents said the same thing: TV will be the ruination of our kids. It allowed us all to become passive observers in life, to watch things as they go by rather than to actively participate. Similar complaints with newer technology.

Rock & Roll was also the downfall of a generation. Not so sure how that fits in...

i love my computer and have found that via Facebook, email, etc.. I have reconnected with lots of people I might never had heard from again. I find that my computer is great lifeline to the world at large. That said, I grew up during the time when we all played outside til our moms called us in for dinner, and then went outside again... lots of social interaction. Maybe we have the social tools to interact face to face and to make the most of computer communication.

What the hell do I know??

Hope Torrents said...

I agree with both of you, the computer is here to stay and I'm not making a judgement more of an observation. In some ways it makes me sad bc I feel that we are losing a lot creativity bc of the computer in spite of the world(s) it opens up to us. But like you Betsy, I have reconnected with people I would have not done otherwise and that is so cool! Hey I'm sure I never would have reconnected with Kathy Cahill....and I love her!
Sally, my mom's party was fantastic. There were 11 out of 12 grandchildren there and practically every single one made a toast to my mom. I gave her the book and she LOVED it.