Is technology making us anti-social? I love technology, but I'm beginning to think that some technology is making people less social. The real estate business is all about social interaction and relationships, but are we getting away from that?
Case in point, I read a blog this week where a client emailed an agent to explain that she wasn't going to use him, and then later emailed that she was going to use him. What ever happened to a phone call?
I got into a spat with another broker over some forged documents he sent to my office. I called him immediately upon receiving them, and he answered his phone. Upon his investigation, he surmised that they were not forgeries and emailed me to let me know. When I received them, I called to tell him he was mistaken, but he didn't answer.
So, he emailed me. I called again. No answer. So, I emailed. He emailed back, and I emailed back, and then we had another round trip of emails. His assistant emailed. I called. No answer. I emailed. She emailed back. I received a text. I called. No answer. I texted back.
You get the picture. We went through a huge kerfuffle (old Scottish 
word meaning "You're a jerk!") without ever looking each other in the eye or speaking. With a simple phone call, our 2 hour challenge could have been over in 5 minutes. This was an important problem that was well worthy of a phone call or a meeting, but no, let's not have to face each other and deal with an issue.
Has social media, texting, email, instant messaging, etc., made us more isolated and in some cases bolder than we would be in person, or are they a great asset to what we do? I guess I would vote, both. I love this time in history, but I'm concerned that technology has allowed us the freedom to pop off a text or email and never really confront issues that are important. Is technology making us anti-social?
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