Are socialnetworking sites/texting screwing with our actual face2face social skills ?

[FlockOfSeagulls]

I`'m talking about the mega-ginormous sites[ we all know who they are ].

Is the ability to converse online even with close family and friends making us lazy and complacent to the point we favor it instead of face-to-face interaction . Instead of meeting family/ friends for coffee to say hi or catch up on stuff it seems a quick update or text will suffice so we can move on quickly to the next thing .

Texting definately has it place and usefulness but it seems to have replaced telephone conversations . Is that partly because texting takes the personal interaction out of it .

 

[april]

I agree with you 100% In many cases these are useful tools but the effects on society are obviouse. I even find myself (who used to love conversing on the phone) rather text than talk to an actual person. Ive sort of found myself going with the flow. In some ways its helped me connect with way more friends and in turn my social life has sky rocketed as far as having more invites to social events. But other than that its squashed the way people organically interact.

 

[Bugman]

It goes beyond social networking sites I think. Consider the number of people you see walking around with earphones from an iPod or similar device stuffed in their head. It almost seems they are worried someone might say something to them or attempt to engage them in conversation. Maybe this is just my preception, I don't know.

 

[AmishTickler]

Yeah, I think this is pretty much a given. Not to say it is true for everyone, but definitely the majority of people these days.

I don't frequent the bars all that often anymore, but I went out one afternoon last week to a sports bar to watch the Phils game with a few friends. I looked around the bar and pretty much everyone sitting at the bar was looking down and typing/playing with their phone. I don't know. Just seemed odd to me. Now I'm not the most social person in the world, but sometimes it's nice to strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to you at the bar. Seems difficult to do when everyone is staring at their phone.

 

[DianaBanana88]

If thats ALL you do then im sure it will have a big effect on social/people skills. I mean if your texting your own parents constantly and not even talking to them face to face or even on the phone thats kinda bad lol. As for other things like you know what lol its just used to keep in touch and shit. Causes alot of pointless drama though :/

 

[Tickleslave83]

I never had great social skills. If it weren't for the internet I'd have almost no contact with others whatsoever.

 

[Jagermeistered]

I think it's broken down individually...

 

[socktickler86]

It goes beyond social networking sites I think. Consider the number of people you see walking around with earphones from an iPod or similar device stuffed in their head. It almost seems they are worried someone might say something to them or attempt to engage them in conversation. Maybe this is just my preception, I don't know.

UGH I HATE THIS!!!!!!!!!

I swear, it's funny how when I was an undergraduate and everyone in my department hung out in our study room, you'd walk in and there would be everyone doing whatever (playing on their computer, homework, whatever) and everyone would have headphones on! It's like everyone just pretended everyone else didn't exist.

Now sure, that MIGHT be understandable, people wanting to study or listen to their music without disturbing people, but it's way worse in this bowling class I take for fun each semester. Last semester we played a team where all 3 people had earbuds on. They never said a word to us or each other. The girl on my team this semester has them on half the time and rarely talks to me and the other guy on my team. And this is a class people TAKE TO SOCIALIZE!

As for the original topic, I think some people can lose their ability to be social creatures and some can still maintain it. I personally enjoy facebook and texting because I feel it makes socializing possible at times where one couldn't. For example, if I'm doing my work on my computer and facebook is up, I might be able to run a small conversation with someone whereas normally I couldn't (although the productivity might be an issue...). Texting is great for the same reason, I can joke around with friends without having to remove myself from a room, stop what im doing, and call people up (although I do this as well as much or maybe even moreso these days). Calling kinda has the unfortunate aspect where you have a short window to make a conversation whereas texting lets you go on for hours.

One thing I notice is how OTHER people I know might have some problems when it comes to socializing thanks to facebook/texting. Some of my friends call with nothing to talk about and have no idea how to just kinda let a conversation die (as if I wanted to talk for 2 hours with 90 minutes of it being random filler). Hmmm I smell a new thread!

 

[maniactickler]

Absolutely it is.

 

[Knox The Hatter]

I've thought about this quite a bit.

It seems that a common thread in the American experience is the need to belong to a subgroup- one in which we find comfort looking at the outside world from within, with people of a like mind. Which is why you've got the Elks, the Moose, the Knights of Colythias, whatever. Through it, we happily tend to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world at large, if even for a larger portion of the day than we ordinarily would. Some subgroups cater to the altruistic bent within ourselves, like, say, the Peace Corps. Some cater to our need to feel superior to others within our midst, like the DAR. The concept of these subgroups are really as American as deep-dish pizza.

Now, we have the rush of technology, and the information super-highway. We now can isolate ourselves from the real world at all times, and during all situations. Part and parcel of America's psychological difficulty in dealing with our monumental problems and the geopolitical realities that assail us at this time. It's not good. Not at all.

 

[tickledorange]

It's nice to have, though, for those friends and family who don't live around you.

 

[southernwellnes]

I think its good to meet new people for those who dont always go out but I feel like people rely on it way too much. How many people do you see on their phones walking around all the time. I even have employees that throw a fit when they have to call people as opposed to text or emailing them

 

[WoweeZowee]

Yeah, I think this is pretty much a given. Not to say it is true for everyone, but definitely the majority of people these days.

I don't frequent the bars all that often anymore, but I went out one afternoon last week to a sports bar to watch the Phils game with a few friends. I looked around the bar and pretty much everyone sitting at the bar was looking down and typing/playing with their phone. I don't know. Just seemed odd to me. Now I'm not the most social person in the world, but sometimes it's nice to strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to you at the bar. Seems difficult to do when everyone is staring at their phone.

That's one of my greatest pet peeves. Hanging out with people, only to watch them text other people all night. Makes me feel boring and unloved.