Thursday, December 2, 2010

Digital Natives

"Internet:  absolute communication, absolute isolation."
~Paul Carvel
Funny how smartphones, broad-band Internet and the invention of Facebook, Twitter and all the other social media services have tremendously shaped our social and communication habits. Born in a fast-pacing technology world and often referred to as "Digital Natives", these folks' life gradually evolves into a 'second life'.

Facebook Status Feeds need to be checked every five minutes, Foursquare check-ins of the own location is a must and all mood changes and thoughts need to be recorded via Twitter.
It becomes more important to communicate with your 457 friends on Facebook, out of which 421 of them you barely even know. Chat functions and messages substitute the routine real-life conversations, even phone calls are reduced
- you have a data flat right? oh yea, why not use WhatsApp, Skype Chat or Facebook Messaging instead of a call. Hearing the other person's voice and having an actual conversation takes up too much energy,
-calls can be sooo overrated, don't you think?

If you are one of the unlucky guys and are not a proud owner of a data flat then -poor you- the search for free wi-fi around the city probably becomes one of the every day chores.

To my disgrace, I have to admit that I am one of those 'Digital Natives' - one of the worst kinds and thus a heavy internet and social media user myself.
It appears to be hard to not get affected by these new technologies, as EVERYONE around you is using it. If everyone started sending e-mails and you were the only one without an e-mail address, you would eventually create your account and start sending e-mails as well rather than writing letters as everyone would get lazy to respond to you via paper letters.

Peer pressure forces you to be part of it or else you would be sort of a weird, social outcast or something like that. You would hear comments like: "WHAT you are NOT on Facebook? Oh my god! How is that possible?".

While I think that in general these technologies are cool and have made it easier to communicate and to be "up-to-date", I see the negative sides as well. First, I spend waaaaaaaaay too much time on Facebook & Co. which I would need elsewhere. Second, I think it is kind of sad to see in what way our real social communication has been altered (mine included!)

This image was taken at breakfast: my friends and I (obviously the one taking the picture) while waiting for our food.

What do you think?

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