Shutting off the computer and actually spending ‘face time’ with people!. According to the Associated Press, on-line social sites like My Space and Facebook are leaving users feeling flat. Here’s the deal: Unlike ‘the good old days’ when young people would hang out with their friends at the mall, kids today amass hundreds of ONLINE friends from all over the world. Social networking sites like MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook have been some of the fastest growing places on the web. And if you’re wondering how different things are from when you were a kid, consider this: a Stanford University study of high school students showed that 9 out of 10 belonged to a social networking site and are in constant contact with their cyber friends using web-enabled cell phones. So what’s the problem? Michael Bugeja is the author of Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age. And he says text messages and MySpace friendships don’t meet our social needs. In other words - blogging about a break-up doesn’t do what crying on your best friend’s shoulder does. So what’s the fix? Bugeja recommends developing what he calls "interpersonal intelligence". Basically, that’s using technology to find people you can count on - and who can count on you - in real life. Not just calling them a “friend” because you both like to use the computer. And make sure you spend more face-to-face time with your real friends. If you wanna learn more, check out Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age by Michael Bugeja. |
 |