Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Such

I admit it. I use all of these. I've been blogging for the longest, but last summer I added Twitter and Facebook. I mostly added those two because I wanted to know what they were all about. It's interesting because they all fulfill different roles for me. I blog to be active in my community. I Facebook to catch up with old friends. I Twitter to make new friends, connect with people I don't know as well, and get information from sources I don't have in my "real" life.

I do think that society has changed somewhat because of these online communications, but I really feel like this is just an extension of the natural urges of humans to connect with others. We have always had social groups and clubs. Now we just have them in a virtual world instead of a physical world. Before the advent of the internet and social networking sites, people met up in clubs like the Elks, Boy Scouts, book clubs and other social clubs. This hasn't completely changed that real world meeting of friends, but it has affected it. I think that people have a tendency to meet first online now, and then eventually form groups that meet-up in person to establish friendships and networks in real time.

One thing that I think has changed with online socialization is the level of disclosure people are comfortable with. I found some research awhile back about a study that was done on how honest people were online as compared to face-to-face contact. It was amazing how much more honest people tended to be when they couldn't see another person's face. I can't remember the numbers, but I remember that the level of truth-telling skyrocketed when people were chatting online. There is something about being a little bit anonymous that seems to give people the freedom to really let it all hang out. Now, is this a good thing? Maybe, but maybe not. I, for one, don't want to see social graces exchanged for indiscriminate truth. Sometimes a little mystery is a good thing.

I think the way that social media has changed us the most is that our networks no longer have to be bound by geographical distance. In a split second I can be chatting with my friends who are teaching English in China, even though they are half a world away in a completely different time zone. Because of this ability to interact no matter where in the world we are, I think people are more willing to move, travel, and generally be mobile because it doesn't mean losing touch with people who are important to us. So in a way, social media has taken away the loss associated with moving, changing jobs, etc. I think this makes people more willing to take those risks.

I think people will always strive for ways to connect with other humans. I believe that we have seen a shift in how that happens in our era, but I imagine it will continue to change and grow as technology advances. What doesn't change in all of this is the basic need to people to have friends and connect with others. Human nature doesn't seem to change dramatically just because technology does. Ah, the great mystery of humanity. :)