I was having a conversation with Francis Ross at work about the new Crane cell phone policy, (For those of you who do not know, no NSWC employees are allowed cell phones in their buildings starting the first of this year) when he asked me how I was handling life without my cell phone...I told him that it had actually been a relief to me so far, because I wasn't needlessly checking my phone throughout the day even when I realized that I more than likely didn't have any text messages. This conversation soon turned to this generations reliance on technology and social networking.
I understand it.
I've lived it.
It's convenient at times.
I don't like it.
This new age of technology has seriously hindered my ability to have a conversation and meet new people. Even the relationships that I had developed early in my life were beginning to drift apart because we as a generation have made a decision to go away from human interaction and actual conversation, and instead carry on relationships through text messaging and facebook. Now, maybe this hasn't happened with all of you to the extent that it has with me, but I can name numerous times where friends have argued over events that have happened on facebook, and don't know how to talk about it other than sending a few texts. It's come to the point where instead of introducing myself to someone in person, I have waited until I got home so I could add them to facebook and learn a little bit about them first. This saddens me. I used to be good at meeting new people. Now, unless I'm forced into meeting a new person, I'm not going to go out of my way to learn that much about them...because facebook does that for me.
So, for the sake of keeping this short, I'll get straight to my resolution. I'm not going to give up social networking. I'm not going to get rid of my cell phone or texting plan. What I am going to do is make a conscious effort to get back to actual real life relationships. I'm going to make an effort to talk more and text less. I'll try to catch up with people in person, instead of reading their facebook page to find out what's going on with them. No more meeting up with friends at bars so that we can all sit around staring at our phones and drinking beers for a few hours. My focus will switch to social interaction and developing real relationships, or patching the ones that I feel like I've gotten away from in the first place. I will turn the tv, computer and phone off and just read a book every once in a while. I will attempt to lower my reliance on technology and get back to real networking...person to person.
I challenge each one of you to do the same. Try to remember that there is life outside of facebook and that social networks and cell phones are no substitute for the real world interactions that we need each day.
Happy New Year. Talk to you soon.
