Staying connected shouldn’t just be a Twitter thing

 

Do you Twitter? Have you moved on to Plurk? Do you even know what I’m talking about?

Simply put, these are two of the newer social media applications for keeping in touch with people. There’s been a virtual explosion of these programs in recent years as part of the cyberevolution.

From e-mail to personal web pages to blogs to My Space to Facebook to LinkedIn to Twitter to Plurk to Wassup … there’s always something new to learn if you want to stay connected. That’s probably why procrastinators like me always seem to be a step behind. Earlier generations had it much simpler.

For generations, Americans got by with basic telephone service, often sharing a line with their neighbors, and sending letters and packages by mail via the Post Office. It wasn’t that long ago that a mobile phone was a true extravagance and luxury and that receiving a telegram by way of Western Union was a big deal.

Of course, my parents and grandparents weren’t as connected as we are. Being able to talk to my son in England over the Internet basically for free is something that wouldn’t have been possible just a few years ago.

But, how much is too much? True privacy is pretty much a quaint notion in cyberspace, the learning curve is constant and steep for many of us and just sorting through the constant flow of information that rushes our way each day can be taxing and time-consuming. There’s often a darker, exploitative side of many promising technological “advances” as well.

How families communicate with one another shouldn’t depend on technology alone. Talkers need listeners to be effective. Are you doing both?

Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand --  Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.

Comments

[pflat]

I just attended a meeting where my meager knowledge of technology was challenged, once again! I just thought I was up to speed when I could say that I blog, but now I am being called to learn some of those other things out there. Mercy! It is a challenge for my ole brain!

[Larry Lehmer]

It's good to have our brains challenged, Pat, but we still need to keep a proper life perspective to make it all work for us. Since we all have 24 hours each day to work with, each time we add something, something else has to go.