Do your friends all live in your computer...

So with technology as it is, social networking aka the Facebook, Twitter, instagram and whatever other sites that I don't use lol

Have we, or are we as a world, losing touch with reality?

Are we forgetting how to interact with other people?

Are our children not learning how to actually interact with people face to face?

And lastly, how long would it take you to get used to life again if your computer were taken away from you for a month?

No one needs to answer any of these questions in particular, just give an opinion, share some thoughts, maybe some insight to what you would do if your technology were gone tomorrow.

How long do we have for this dissertation ?

As long as you want buddy

Well, to answer quite simply, I'm more worried about the effect technologies have on the ability of people to entertain or take time for themselves than the interaction process.
I mean, how many people can't even wait a few minutes without "doing something" whatever it is, as long as they are occupied (in the transports, in the cinema, before falling asleep). Without mobile and such, it seems like people can't find something to do anymore and more importantly, can't take the time to think.

As for social interaction, there are some problems too. Social networks just made people more self-centered that they already were. The fact that you can be contacted at anytime, anywhere (and that some people are addicted to that) puts us in a some kind of schizophrenic state where we are always connected and yet often alone. But other than that, it's all good

I actually love when I forget my cellphone, gives me a chance to relax and not worry about being contactedby someone I don't want to talk to

There's nothing worse than when someone is constantly checking their phone. I have friends who do this all the time. Relax. Nothing happening on Facebook or Twitter is that important. There's a girl I've known for a while who I was interested in asking out but her complete lack of attention for anything longer than five minutes was such a turn off, I lost interest.

The computer can't replace going to the pub for a pint with your mates, then the takeaway on the way home

Quote:

Originally posted by sumo999

The computer can't replace going to the pub for a pint with your mates, then the takeaway on the way home

Actually played a little game at the bar a couple weeks ago. Everyone puts their cellphone down on the table and the first person to pick their's up has to pay the tab. It starts off real easy but after you all have a few drinks, people start forgetting.

I really don't have any friends in or out of the computer. Just a lot of people I know.

For all of you who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.
At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated,
"If Ford had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."
In response to Bill's comments, Ford issued a press release stating:
"If Ford had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this):
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash - twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.
I love the next one!
7. The airbag system would ask, "Are you sure?" before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
PS - I'd like to add that when all else fails, you could call "customer service" in some foreign country and be instructed in some foreign language how to fix your car yourself!"

Its now estimated that children aged 8-18 spend on average 7.5 hours per day in front of a screen for entertainment purposes only. And 2012 marked the first time that adults now spend more time using the computer or mobile device in their spare time than watching TV.

This doesn't mean that people are slowly losing touch with reality or forgetting how to interact with people in the real world, but it certainly isn't helping. Davey said it in post 8 above that playing the game in the bar, the first to check their phone buys the drinks. It IS hard. Every year, more and more people are becoming addicted to the internet. Online you can be anyone you want, and while most people are still themselves, you can tweak yourself a little. Shy people aren't as shy, timid people can be more outgoing, people tend to express their opinion more, and then others just create a whole new persona. The ability to make yourself better with a few key strokes is very powerful and very addictive. I read the other day, that everyone on Twitter is looking for their 5 minutes of fame, maybe get retweeted or favourited 100 times, or interact with a celeb (btw, I got in a twitter argument with Roseanne Barr once...but thats a different story) or have your tweet mention on tv or a online story. I'm not suggesting that this is the sole reason to be on twitter, but I'm sure there is a rush associated with any of these things happening.

Life would be difficult without social media and the internet, but it wouldn't take that long to adjust, like any addiction, you probably need about 3 weeks to kick it...but relapse is a different story.

PS - Great thread Demo!

Quote:

Online you can be anyone you want

So I can be a small angry woman with opinions too ?

Quote:

Originally posted by omuh

...
So I can be a small angry woman with opinions too ?

When I leave the house without my cell phone I go through a brief period of anxiety thinking about how I will get around the city, how will I contact who I'm meeting etc.... than I slowly remember that there was a time when I did all these things without all this instant technology. And like many of you have said, it kinda gives me a feeling of being free. Like nobody can contact me virtually, the only way you can get me is to be in front of me, and it feels really awesome.

Just saying - but WBW applies too (amongst facebook, twitter, whathaveyou).

Quote:

Originally posted by omuh

...
So I can be a small angry woman with opinions too ?

Sorry, that spot is already taken.

Thanks for the replies so for folks

The 7.5 hours per day for kids doesn't surprise me, I have two 12, almost 13 year old boys at home, one of which has had all electronic devices taken away from him for being on the VPN at his school, accessing site on the net that he is not allowed to at school, which was where my idea for this thread came from. He has 4 more days till he gets his devices back, and it has been kinda nice how much more he has been interacting with the family insteadof having his face glued to some sort of screen containing pixels.