You know me. I’m always trying to stay on top of the latest gadgets and gizmos. I love things that beep and buzz and supposedly make my life better. Okay, I’m over that last one, but I do my best to stay up with what is going on—although I must admit that staying up with technology is now a full time job. Things change so fast you really don’t have time to do your work and keep up with it all.
But as successful as some of this technology is, I have begun to grieve certain losses these advances have caused. I use Twitter. I blog. I am on the cutting edge of social media, but to tell you the truth, I’m beginning to wonder just how “social” social media really is.
You have to understand: I love people. I find people fascinating and their stories intriguing.
For all of its claims, I think social media builds more barriers than it knocks down. Yeah, I know social media can cover a lot of distance; you can talk to people all over the world with a few clicks of a keyboard. But just because you exchange emails doesn’t mean you know the person. People are far too complicated to be summed up in 140 characters.
Conversations are more than words. They are body language, vocal inflections, facial changes—all of this makes up how the message is offered and received. I need to see your eyes to know if you are telling me the truth. I need to see your face to know you are okay. I want to see your smile. Those are the moments that, well, make us human.
I know texts are faster. I know email is easier. But they leave too much out. Call me old school, but I would rather talk with you than network with you. I want to get to know you and frankly, you can’t do that through email or blogs.
So the next time you see me, introduce yourself. Stop me. Talk to me—not gadget to gadget, but person to person.
Who in your life has been lost in cyber world? Call ‘em up. Get together. It’s the only way to get to know the whole story…to know the whole person.
