For those who don’t use online social networks, it may appear that virtual interaction is replacing real interaction. But in my view, it really helps facilitate it.

Having said that, immediately when our class was over the other day, out came the cell phones and students formed mini circles and while looking into their phones, began discussing where to go have lunch and what was on the menu. In this sense, media is serving a need: where to have lunch together. There’s a greater issue at hand, the fostering of a physical community that will brake bread together (using the English version of the Latino way of saying this).

Anyway, before seeing your insightful post, I had decided to get off Facebook and Twitter, only because they are, in my own life, right now, distractions that I don’t need and can’t use — too much to do. I announced on Facebook that I was saying “adieu.” But, boy oh boy, the push back I’m getting! And I’m getting push back from people that can very easily get a hold of me in many ways, including seeing my, physically, on campus! What’s up with that?

thank you, Shirley for helping us think through this!

Hasta la proxima…los vemos…

héctor

However, I sense that the disconnectedness of Middlebury students has more to do with socioeconomic and cultural differences than technology. Technology is perhaps amplifying the problem, but not causing it.

It’s a reality of modern life that people move, and that by doing so we are sacrificing our immediate relationships with people with the knowledge that they can go off and make new friends to replace us. That said, I take great joy in hearing from friends outside my immediate surroundings, so I think interpersonal communication is valuable. What I don’t appreciate is impersonal updates that have become so popular with adoption of twitter and the use of facebook statuses; they tools are great for organizing events or telling jokes but they meaningless on a personal level.

Another point I want to make is the ability to keep track of current events more easily than ever before is hugely valuable in informing people, especially in institutions of higher education. I believe our current era acts as a valuable supplement to many classes at Middlebury, from international relations to economics to social sciences. Again, I must acknowledge the social worthlessness of all the visits to textsfromlastnight.com, perezhilton.com, or even NBA.com, but I do believe people derive pleasure from these visits so who am I to decide which is preferable.

Virtually every generation is feared by those in previous generations for not having some essential quality that every other one before it had. Each of these generalizations were true about the extremes, but the majority of these eras grew up to be healthy, productive adults. I urge each of us to use new technologies responsibly, and to trust that most of us will grow up to have some parallel worry about the children being born today.