Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Where do you stand?

My daughter, Stephanie Gates, mother of two young children, wrote in her blog yesterday:

"The world is so much bigger than my four little walls. Yet, these four walls are what I know. They are my experience, my life, so writing about them is natural to me. But the world is so much bigger than that. So why would you, sitting inside your four walls, want to hear about mine?

"[We've] been talking lately about the role of media in our family. We saw a family at dinner the other night - the three preteenish children were on ipods? iphones? something handheld, the father (presumably) was on his cell phone, and the mother (presumably) was staring into space, looking bored. What's the point? Why spend the money going out to dinner if nobody talks to one another? Social media (isn't it all social media?) serves an important function, in that it connects us to one another. My friends and I plan playgroups through facebook, blogs remind me I'm not the only one surrounded by four walls every day, and through email I have ongoing conversations with friends across the country. But when our tools for connecting to one another create a false reality - when I begin to relate more easily and more eagerly to the people inside the box than the people in my living room, or neighborhood - there's a problem. I don't think that has happened in our home, but talking through it has reminded me how important it is to be mindful of where I put my energy. . . "

The question to you is this: How has "social media" changed the way you relate to others?

9 comments:

  1. Javaris L. Thomas

    How as "social media" changed the way you relate to others?I say it has changed alot.I say this because,people use to go outside everyday and enjoy nature,but now all they do is sit in the house and play videogames,talk on the phone,and etc..

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  2. I think peopl should stop spending so much time with technology and spend more time with their families.---Damian Lewis

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  3. Social media has become intertwined into our everyday life. It’s impossible to go one day without seeing someone texting, calling someone, or being on Facebook. I don’t really use social media as much as most of my friends but it has had at least one positive and one negative effect on my life. The negative would be that I find it easier to say some things through a text message than face to face. The positive is that it is easier to keep up with distant friends. I believe that social media has positive and negative effects on everyone and you must find a balance between that and actually being around other people.

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  4. "Social media" has changed how I relate to others because of the way it has made some things more simple in communicating. But while doing this, it has distanced me from people due to when I get distracted by my cell phone or computer. It is hard to see that I get so easily distanced from those around me while planning a time to see the next big movie, making sure I don't have homework, or talking to friends that I haven't seen since sixth grade. The way I relate to people has changed through this though, and I honestly don't know if it's for the better or the worse.

    The way that this form of "media" has changed me is by making me less aware of those around me. Those that I communicate to through technology may be alright friends, but we don't have the same connections as I should have with those that I interact with from day-to-day. "Social media" has taken over most of the life that Americans might have, and I can say it has definitely taken over how I relate to other people.

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  5. I generally only use social media to convey important information in situations where it is necessary. Other than that, I use it to keep connected to a small group of close friends. My phone’s domination of a face-to-face conversation depends on the importance of said conversation compared to the one on my phone.

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  6. Social media has made a lot of people lose the ability to have a face to face conversation, because these people find it easier to pick up their phone and get on the computer to talk to someone rather then to go out with the person they are talking to. Social media has made our society lazy, for this exact reason!
    For me social media hasn’t made that big of a difference on communicating with others. I would much rather talk to someone face to face and interact with them, but sometimes you have to use social media to communicate with people because they are just to far away. I’m a big texting person but it hasn’t taken control of my whole life.
    Every night at dinner my parents make me and my little brother come to the table for 30 minutes and we aren’t allowed to have our phones, watch television, or answer the house phone when it rings. I think this has made a huge effect on me because it has shown me that I don’t have to have my cell phone twenty-four seven.

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  7. "Social media" has made things easier and it has also made things difficult. It has made things easier for communicating with people. It seems to be easier, and more convienient, to text a person rather than e-mail them and wait for a reply. It has made things easier for me in a way that if I need something or need to ask/tell someone something I can pick up my phone and text them. The downside to the "social media" is that it has gotten out of hand. It seems that people rely on their technology too much and it takes away from time spent with family and other things.
    "Social media" plays such a big role in people's lives that it's all they seem to care about these days.

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  8. "Social Media" has become apart of our everyday lives as a society. "Social Media" has changed how I communicate with others. It has made it easier for me to communicate with my family that lives far away, and my friends who I don't see everyday. I use social media more than I should, but my sister lives in Atlanta as a flight attendant along with my aunt and cousin whom I’m really close with. It is easier for me to communicate with them through facebook or Texting. It’s is also free unlike long distance calls. I can't really talk to my sister much through the phone she's always out flying somewhere, so texting is easier for us to communicate.

    I also believe social media has negative an effect on the society. This type of media distracts me very easily. I'll start my homework and then open my laptop and get on facebook. An hour later I haven’t finished my homework. Another negative side would also be less time with the ones you love. An example of this would be texting at the dinner table, I personally think it is wrong and it’s annoying to others when they are trying to have a conversation with you.

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  9. "Social Media" has effected me, personally, a lot. Yes, my parents do require me to sit down at the dinner table and not have my cell phone attatched to my hand, and no, we're not allowed to answer the phone when we are having family time. I have many friends who are constantly on their cell phones and iPods while their parents try to talk to them. I consider it rude, honestly. I love my phone and iPod, but I have learned to control myself with them. I used to be worse, I couldn't go five minutes without checking my phone to see if I had a text message.

    I mainly use "social media" to stay in contact with my close friends. It is very useful, until people start to obsess over it and get addicted to it. Then it's time to put it down and occupy your mind with other activities not involving a phone or iPod. "Social media" has positive and negative effects to it, such as being in touch with distant friends is a positive and getting addicted is a negative. People really just need to find the balance with this "social media" and not let it control their lives.

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