Let's reconnect, withOUT plugging in
Walking out of the Murray Recreation Center donned in my work clothes - tank and shorts in snow, rain, or shine - I was eager to go running after 5 hours of sitting and staring at almost the same people I see every Sunday. I arrived at my car, opened the door, and hit the unlock knob on the door - nothing. Crap. The lights stayed on AGAIN. Therefor, my battery was dead. AGAIN. I put the car in neutral and started pushing it out of my stall as an older man approached me in a jean jacket and ball cap. "Need a hand?" he asks. "I might," I replied pushing the car slightly up hill. He joins in, and we get it into a stall where another car can give me a jump. "Do you have someone coming?" he asks after I thank him for his help and tell him my battery is dead. "I'm not sure, you wouldn't be able to jump me would you?" And in an age where people have places to go, people to see, things to do, the man said "I'm from Wyoming, and we never pass by a person in need of a jump. Out there, it could mean life or death," he says with a smile on his lips. We successfully connect the cables, my car turns over and then the engine revs to life, and I thank him for his trouble. His parting words were, "Just remember to do the same for someone else!" as he drove past and waved.
Today's events reminded me of a lot of what has been lost in an era of internet social sites, email, and cell phones. The personal connections of the past, when people wrote letters by hand and took the time to make it neat and flawless; when people got together for simple occasions just to catch up; when a nieghbor was a friend and not just a nameless face; when community meant more than joining a group on facebook; these are the things we have begun to lost touch with even as we seem to be more often in touch with our friends and family through today's electronic devices. Where has traditional hospitality gone? When was the last time you stopped by a person's house to say hi rather than comment on their status. In an era of social networking, we have lost touch of what it means to truly be social. We isolate ourselves in a false sense of community and belonging - connecting to the internet does not mean really connecting with a group of people.
So just how many of us are finding ourselves less traditionally social and more and more online? This is as of January 2010:
Facebook now has over 350 million users. With such a huge crowd, where are the people coming from? Here are the top countries whose people have been fueling Facebook’s growth. Note that this list was picked from another list of the top ten countries by user growthnumbers. So, there possibly could be other countries who are in the top ten but did not grow enough in volumes (though that sounds unlikely)
1. USA : 102.6 million
2. Turkey : 16.9 million
3. Indonesia : 15.3 million
4. Italy : 13.5 million
5. Philippines : 8.8 million
6. Spain : 7.8 million
7. Argentina : 7.5 million
8. Mexico : 6.6 million
9. India : 5.6 million
10. Malaysia : 4.2 million
The issue is worldwide - we need to reconnect, but without plugging in!
Comments
Hey Parker, I liked
Hey Parker,
I liked reading your post because I too, have caught myself commenting on a profile or emailing someone instead of picking up the phone and calling them or taking an afternoon to spend time with them. I'm sure most people in today's society has experienced what you and I are talking about. I completely agree with your statement: "we need to reconnect, but without plugging in!" There are many ways we can get closer with people that don't involve a computer or cell phone. I think to some of the most valuable experiences I have shared with people-not one of them came from an email or Facebook post. For example, I have an uncle that lives in California and his basketball team just won the NorthCal State Championship last weekend and plays for the entire state Championship this coming weekend. Last weekend, my family here in Salt Lake listened to the game via an online podcast. With print-out pictures of the players to match the names as the commentators spoke, my family managed pretty well to follow the game. But what we found we missed the most was the interactions with our family at the game and my uncle in particular. Though we were able to follow the game, we missed out on the celebrations and embracing to follow, none of which could be matched with the use of technology. So, long story short, this weekend my family is making the 11 hour drive to Bakersfield, CA., so we too can join in the atmosphere and interactions that come only with face-to-face "reconnecting."
So while I have personally dealt with the claim you are making, for the sake of a worthwhile comment, I have to say there are instances where I think the worldwide era of social connections via technology is actually saving relationships. A couple of days ago at lunch, some of us were talking about post-graduation plans. We kept coming back to how hard it is to realize we may never see some of our classmates after graduation. But as one insightful person brought up, Facebook has the potential to continue many of the high school relationships we've made. With the popularity of Facebook and such social networking sites, you can bet just about every person in our graduating class has a Facebook profile, and will continue to use it for years to come. So, while we may think we'll never connect with those classmates traveling halfway across the country for college, Facebook will be there to connect us in someway. I'm not going so far as to say such online communication is in any way the same as face-to-face interactions, but it's a step in the right direction.
Well Parker, thanks again for your post, you really got me thinking on that one! Overall, I do think that our so-called "social" interactions are far-too technology based these days, but in some instances there are positives that come from it.
~Malori
I also believe that too much
I also believe that too much time is spent socializing through some network instead of face to face. People don't know how to properly interact in person because they are used to taking time to respond to text messages or facebook comments. That was incredibly nice of that man to help you with your car trouble, in this era you don't see acts of kindness like that. Everyone thinks, "What if that person is weird or a creep? What if they're a rapist?" Everyone is so scared of social interaction in person that the only way we know how to communicate is through electronics. Hopefully this will be further recognized and the next generations won't have this bad of a problem.
Parker- I loved reading your
Parker-
I loved reading your blog and hearing the story about the guy who helped you. I fully agree when you say we need to reconnect with one another without the use of technology but rather through human interaction. This is something I'm always thinking about. Everytime I go out and see a 10 year old girl on her cell phone or when I'm at school hearing people talk about needing to get on facebook, it's crazy. Grant it I have a facebook, like most people do, but mine I mailnly use to stay in touch with friends who are too far away to see. That even is only temporary untill I can meet up with them in person. For me, I have tried to use technology as little as possible because I don't really enjoy it, it's too advanced and complicated I feel. I have seen the effetcs of it personally. When texting first started picking up speed I didn't have it. I never started texting until junior year. When I would try to call my friends they wouldn't answer, but send them a text right after and I would get a response. It's so annoying! I feel like i'm getting off track now...Basically, your post is very true and spot on but hearing the story about the guy who helped you gives me hope that this "ancient art of human interaction" isn't completely lost. We should all do everything in our power to stay connected, minus the technology.
Thanks for the post!
Katie
Parker- I thought this post
Parker-
I thought this post was so interesting because lately I have been noticing the same thing. Today it seems like when meeting someone new instead of saying, "We should meet up sometime soon," it has turned to "add me on facebook, and we can talk there." I mean I guess I do think facebook is good in some circumstances. It is a way to communicate with people we may rarely see because of distance and such, but it has damaged us as a society. I guess this same ideas goes along with the whole texting thing as well.
Recently I began talking to a friend I hadn't talked to in nearly 3 years. It was interesting to me because instead of shooting me a text asking how I was doing, he CALLED me. We talked and then a few days later with a question I shot him a text, thinking it would be easier. Instead of just sending a short reply back, once again he called me saying, "I don't really do the whole texting, facebook thing. I like to know that I'm actually talking to someone and not a computer." When he said that I began to realize how caught up I have become in technology and how interaction with people isn't all that bad.
I think this is something that we should work on because ultimately it would make the world a slightly better place. Like you said in your post, we must go back to "when a nieghbor was a friend and not just a nameless face;" and realize that so many of the people around us have so much to offer, and we just have to be open to listening to them, instead of being so caught up in the latest itunes application, or updated facebook status.
This was a great post Parker! Glad you got your car running!
Mikelle
Parker I know where you are
Parker I know where you are coming from. I know I have become more disconnected and more technilogically dependet in my own life. However I think it is just a change in the times. Our society has developed in a way where we can infact be talking to multiple people at the same time. We can be texting one person, talking on the phone with another, and then on facebook posting to someone else. Its amazing but we never see these people's faces through out this process. To be honest I enjoy all the technology that his developed but getting outside and playing with friends or just talking never hurt anybody. Ok maybe it did but not too seriously.