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Is Facebook killing Society (II) (not related to real estate)

By
Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Bain 49381

My son's comment on my post about Facebook's threat to Society is worth reading. Of course, I'm not suggesting that Facebook is the sole threat. I'm suggesting that it's the entire electronic arsenal that is the threat. This morning's report that Apple and Microsoft are posting huge profits due to increased sales of exactly the kind of gadgets I'm addicted to is testimony to our reliance on them.

Paul Richard quickly found another unsettling article about our shared dependence on computers, the Internet, and gadgets (by the way, if you're not following his blog, take a look--it's worth reading).

What I see is that more and more of us are depending on the Internet for our news, and that concerns me. Back in the day, we had a pretty good idea of what our neighbors had read (whether what they had read The Truth is another issue). We could bring up a local or national topic and expect at least some some shared context. 

No more We and our co-workers and neighbors no longer go to a common source for our news and editorials. We forward forwarded emails and subscribe to whatever source du jour we happen to trust--whatever that mean. We don't even follow the same news programs on the telly. My "facts" are probably different from my next-door neighbor's. And we often cast our votes based on these "facts" and opinions.

The phenomenon was illustrated in this week's story about the firing of Shirley Sherrod after a blogger and Fox News "reported" a speech that "proved" that she was a racist. No time to check the facts--can't bother. Have to act now. 

My concern goes beyond the isolation we are embracing with our social networking, our embracing of video games, our willingness to listen to whatever the gecko tells us about the best insurance company (used to be a cave man, dinnit?). It has to do with how our new generation is computer literate but almost illiterate when it comes to our heritage, the thoughts and stories told by those who took the time to think and write about what it means to be human.  Their thoughts and stories are worth reading and worth giving to our children and grandchildren.

This is nothing new. I still remember years ago mentioning The Garden of Eden (as a metaphor for loss of innocence)  to one of my college students. No kidding: his reaction was, "Huh?"--not about the meaning of "metaphor" but about The Garden of Eden. Never heard of it, he cheerfully informed me.

I'll stop here and invite your comments. Do you see where I'm going with this, or have we all taken a bite from the Apple?

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Comments (4)

Scott Miller
Best Connections Realty - Boca Raton, FL
ifoundyourhome.com

On a related note, the singer, Prince, said he's cancelling his website and not contributing to anything on the net anymore:

http://www.nme.com/news/prince/51863

He claims that the "internet is over".  He may be early in calling the demise of the internet, but I do believe the time is right around the corner when people are going to want human interaction again with one another.  

We are being completely desensitized to everything because of this electronic overload.

 

Scott Miller, Realty Associates, Boca Raton, FL

p.s. i don't listen to prince, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Jul 23, 2010 07:48 AM
Pat & Wayne Harriman
Harriman Real Estate, LLC (203) 672-4499 - Wallingford, CT
Broker/Owners, Wallingford CT Real Estate

Poor Prince. From Internet entrepeneur to Internet abolishionist seemingly overnight. I wonder what soured him on the Internet, since it has been instrumental in his success? I, too, think he is somewhat hasty in his assessment of the Internet, and it will be interesting to see if his departure from it will be a help or hindrance to his career.

I don't think we need to be looking for SkyNet or The Matrix to be created any time soon; I think Society as a whole will be thriving and growing for a long time to come, and Facebook be damned. Speaking for myself only, I look around my community and I see very few examples of the isolation you speak of. People still gather together F2F in any number of places: theaters, coffee shops, restaurants, etc to socialize and mingle. even social media has entered the physical interaction by spawning meet-ups, tweet-ups and other socializing events. Whether this is in response to the effects of electronic isolation or simply a logical outgrowth of the social aspects of the medium remains to be seen, but the fact remains that meeting IRL (In Real Life) remains a strong and integral part of people's lives, and I find that especially true of Realtors, at least in my neck of the woods. Of course, this is all IMHO, so your mileage may vary.

Jul 23, 2010 09:35 AM
Paul Pival
Coldwell Banker Bain - Tacoma, WA
A Realtor with the soul of a professor.

Thanks, Scott, for that link. I agree about desensitivy.

Jul 23, 2010 09:58 AM
Paul Pival
Coldwell Banker Bain - Tacoma, WA
A Realtor with the soul of a professor.

I'm not concerned about our generation, I'm concerned about my grandchildren's. Too many kids would rather text than talk, play video games rather than basketball or baseball. Look at the audience at lectures, for instance. They're (relatively) old . . . .

Jul 23, 2010 10:00 AM