LOL… Technology’s Impact on Socialization

by, Jeremy Lesniak

One of the words our society likes to throw around is progress. We’re always seeking progress in something. Of course that progress leads us to a lot of new technologies. Some have suggested that many of these new technologies leave us worse off than before we had them. Television might be the best example of that argument. With the dominance of television, reading is less popular and we’ve lost our ability to imagine, or so some might say. Few would argue, however, that all technology is bad. What about the impact of technology on the way we interact with each other? Our socialization has certainly changed over the last ten or fifteen years as we’ve added new technologies to our lifestyle. While the changes haven’t been perfect, they certainly have not all been for the worse. Most of our ‘social technology’ has made a positive impact on the way we interact with one another.

Email has ushered in a new type of casual contact. In the past, one needed to make time to write a letter or place a phone call, an email can express a simple point or a reminder in less than a minute. They’re free and can be sent and received nearly instantly, at any time of day. Few people send as many letters as they used to, and many people send dozens or even hundreds of emails per day.

Cellular phones have allowed us to stay connected to others in ways never possible. While Vermont’s cellular coverage isn’t as good as other states, we have all seen someone talking on the phone while driving, shopping or even while ordering a cup of coffee.

Social networking websites such as Facebook and Myspace allow users to share a great deal of their lives with others. Pictures, messages and even electronic diaries are available to anyone you designate a friend. I’ve found this medium quite useful of late, reconnecting with school friends that, truthfully, I wouldn’t have made the effort to seek out.

These new methods have taken their toll on the old ways. We don’t make the time for the weekly phone call to our parents anymore. Thank you notes for gifts are digitally shipped to our Grandparents instead of carefully written inside a nice card. Catching up with someone at a coffee shop no longer has the magic it used to. (After all, we’ve read all about them on their Myspace page…)

While these changes have affected most everyone, they’re more common with the younger age groups. Elementary school-age children send text messages to their friends without remembering a time before cell phones. Grandparents are forced to learn how to send and receive emails so they might be able to communicate with their grandchildren.

Yet, while we’ve ignored some of our old ways to make room for the new, I can’t help but think the changes will ultimately be, if they aren’t already, for the best. We’re developing a better-connected society that allows for a more rapid exchange of information. True, privacy advocates have been quite vocal of late, saying we’re losing our ability to keep information private. I say it will just take time. As our new technologies integrate with our social skills we’ll learn how to use them, instead of them using us.

That integration is already taking place. Many of us are starting to see the permanence of posting our lives on the internet. We’ll learn that 24/7 access to email is not a good idea (I can vouch for this!). If text messages between parent and teenager help lessen the strain of those difficult years, then good! Sure, we’re annoyed with that person on their cell phone ordering coffee, but chances are they’d find some other way to annoy us if they weren’t on the phone. Besides, we get to hear some pretty good stories that way!

The technologies I’ve mentioned in this article are relatively new. In the name of progress we embrace technology without considering the impact. It’s our nature to want the new and the shiny. This causes some stress and pain as we struggle to integrate and adapt, both ourselves to technology and technology to ourselves. History has taught us that in time it does work. Cars didn’t commit the horse to obsolescence nor did the television eliminate radio. We will not see cell phones replace a casual conversation on the street nor will email bankrupt the United States Postal Service. The integration is simply a matter of time. In the end, though, if you’re passionate about letter-writing, send some! If you love your downtown coffee shop, invite friends to meet you for a cup. These places will have as large or small a place in our society as we want them to. If we commit to the idea, technology can make us more social, IMHO.