OK, I couldn’t pass this one up because Facebook and Twitter have become such revolutionary mediums of a new type of communication. In a recent …
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Martha Cravens
8:45 pm on
August 26th, 2009lots of “across the top” on FB, and not much depth. I get the same feeling when watching a powerpoint presentation (some interesting research there) — I find myself, more and more, grabbing a dense book and hiding out in nature, reading. Thanks for the article; I just got an email from FB and gotta go…….
The other important element missing when we lose face-to-face time is that our brains are wired to connect with people, live and in person. It builds important neurological connections which are necessary for us to thrive (and, I believe, survive).
Lou Cozolino writes (in his book, The Neurobiology of Relationships) that “the brain depends on interactions with others for its survival.” If you isolate one neuron in a Petri dish, it won’t survive very long; it needs the connections with other neurons to survive. I believe the same is true if we, in effect, isolate our brains by hiding out from actual, not virtual, connections.
Simply put, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are leading us to be “more connected” in ways which aren’t enough to foster survival, growth and well-being.
Like you, I’m on Facebook and Twitter (@DrMarsha), and I obviously read blogs and leave comments 
, but I find for myself and my patients that a healthy, sizeable dose of face-to-face time is, quite literally, vital.
Susan
12:50 pm on
July 16th, 2010And if multiple job changes, state to state are required due to the current state of the economy moving far from friends and /or family, then what? Can the unemployed, those without family, those (such as us who have moved 5 times in two years) doomed because we’re not anywhere long enough to make friends? Aquaintences maybe…but friendship takes a great deal of time and committment to nourish. So is this to say our brains like the neuron in that Petri dish will die thanks to trying to survive? And how about those in the military that move even more often than us? Is this a battle of the classes again? Wealth allows you to stay put, have countless friends and therfore, better mental health? Just one more thing to help those depressed already by the daamage the economy has caused them.
What if face to face can only be achieved by tele networking? Isn’t it better than nothing?
Very True & I got that right off—& no longer see facebook as helpful in any way.
“Connected” is a loaded word.
And as for the eye contact, touching,physical proximity-down to vocal inflection-social media seems a false map of the world.
Concise can come off cold-
an aside or jibe can sound-(?sound)-’Seem’-bitter, crude,arrogant.
There is no way to ‘qualify’ what is being said-sincerity,empathy,true meaningdul sharing is reduced to our somewhat lacking language.
Those closest to me express so much non-verbally; the the lack of that physical presence is -?’other than communication’
It seems people ‘Advertise’ their joy & success.
Is it possible to be a little down & carry a conversation that is in itself isolating & cold?
Tweet-now that one is beyond me.
I did however-as a parent-not expose my kids to media advertising-(movies only)-they had outdoors,creative outlets like paper,crayons & friends.
We picked blackberries & at age two my daughter made jam.
Later-in their peer group, they knew of x-box & other boxes of wires & lights-but they were voracious readers, free thinkers, creative problem solvers.
After they-(both daughters)-hit middle-high school; they used the computer at school & finally-at home.
BUT…they have developed their own unique world view-(they have something to say, great sense of self-(& humor)
I’ve always been wary of the fact we are amusing ourselves to death,are dumbing down-& have a Vegas chemicals & mirrors (with no sense of time or place) attention span fit for 1/2 hour programming, news bits that make people tea-bag-or of course-(ve a socialist-as if that were one narrow thing.
Wow!
Great ,late point of view.
Mark Partington
Hi
My friend lead me to this article. I shared a story about younger generations not truly experiencing love and intimacy off line and what will that lead to in the future.
My granddaughter is 16 has her first crush. My daughter asked her how it was going with Brennan and she. She replied, “Oh mom, all he wants to do is talk on the phone…meaning she’s only into texting.
The reason I learned to text is because my own duaghters reply much faster than a phone call. They also don’t listen to their voice mail so there is no sense leaving a message.
I prefer to observe rather than judge younger generations. However I truly think there is a lot more being lost than anyone is willing to talk about. Oh, silly me, I forgot we don’t talk anymore!
Greetings…
☞ Your article was an inspiration to my tweet of the day at ‘Twitter’ which rhymes as underneath :
❖ Psalm For Livingfulness`:
“Tweet Self Away” and “Keep Facebook At Bay”
…If not, then “Life Is Ought To Be In Sway”.
☞ Extremity of anything is ought to be bad unto worst. If we at large don’t earn to learn to attune self with the beauty of the equipoise between the do`s & don`ts, prescriptions and precautions gauged by the precepts to have the percepts for livingfulness, then definitively the life in coming era, which indeed have started for many at large, would mean a self enforced constraint and confinement by dint of applying the fetters of being computer / web addiction ; mania.
❖ Wishing A Better Essence Of Sense To All…
❖ God Bless All Divine` …Fair, Flair & Fine`
Debbie W.
8:44 am on
December 17th, 2010I think that FB is like everything else. At first, it was so different and fun and exciting! But, now it seems a chore to keep up. I’m getting ready to unlike most of the friends, businesses, etc. Perhaps, it’s a generational thing, but I prefer talking face-to-face over wine!
mayday
2:44 pm on
March 2nd, 2011This is EXACTLY what I have been experiencing. I am not interested in any “friends” who communicate in this way, and — as a result of being assaulted by Facebook several times recently — have deactivated my Facebook account (not that I was active anyway). I’m sure I’m anethema to my Facebook “friends” now, but I could care LESS. If this is the type of friend to have, I am not interested. Call me or email, PLEASE!!
Rach
4:12 am on
January 2nd, 2012Does it ever!I HAD a friend that started to not write to me on FB anymore because she saw me leave a message on my wall to another friend about a political issue.She is so one sided that if someone doesn’t like her person she voted for but I didn’t that she takes it personally.I guess a csrtain politician is more importsnt to her than our friendship.I’ve known her since 1995 but within the last six months she stopped writing regular email to me and know she acts like she didn’t she my note to her on her wall and plays Farmville over my message.It’s like she values someone she voted for over me.
ibivi
1:40 pm on
February 9th, 2012The minutiae of daily living just isn’t that interesting. I found this out while taking transit to work and overhearing cellphone conversations. I don’t have a cellphone and to suddenly be inundated with all these conversations around me (on the bus, walking down the street, in stores, etc) I decided that I needed to wear earplugs just to tamp down the ambient noise. I closed my Twitter account because generally it was repetitive and full of promos. It wasn’t worth my time. Facebook is a huge drain on your time and I found that I didn’t like their insistent demand for info and how they manipulated any info I did post. Posts are too easy to misinterpret if someone doesn’t know you or you say something you normally wouldn’t. I got defriended. Now I just keep a “shell” account just for access if I want to see something. I don’t post anything at all (no pics, no real personal info, etc). Once all the hoopla dies down people start seeing the downside of social media. I’m glad. We need to re-establish real connections with family and friends.
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