More Intimate but Less Personal

There is no argument about the fact that the internet has revolutionized the way we interact with each other. Whether that is for better or for worse is the question.

Some would point to the fact that we can share information almost instantly from almost anywhere in the world. That ideas can flow freely from one person to others in real time. We can digitally store our photos, videos, and documents on "the cloud" where they can't be destroyed by fire, or hard drive crash.

But then there is the other side of the coin. Everything we do on the internet, everything we ever post is there forever. Nothing ever gets totally deleted. With so many young people publishing their foolish mistakes for all of Facebook, Youtube, or Twitter to see; no one can yet say for certain what ramifications that may have for the future. We can create digital copies of ourselves though our Facebook or Linkedin Profile, our Twitter, Youtube Channel, Instagram Account, Blogs, and other media sharing outlets.

Despite what you may think, interacting with others on that level isn't interaction person to person. Our digital selves are interacting with other digital selves. Recreations that may or may not actually emulate a persons character, beliefs, or mannerisms. More often than not, they are not even close to the real person. Humans are so complex that human-made digital personas could never even begin to capture the real person. In the touch of a few keys, we can find out where someone works, what high school they went to, the names of their kids, their pictures, jokes they find funny, commentaries about events, opinions on beliefs. All things that used to be reserved for your closes circle of friends. But now that old acquaintance from high school that you had one class with one year is put in the same circle as your spouse. I dare say that is too much intimacy for one and not intimate enough for the other.

The internet has created additional social scourges. The advent of slacktivism and the ability to personally attack anyone you don't see eye with has made everything less personal. Profile images and stylizes names represent the front of an interaction instead of looking someone in the eye to tell them that you are praying for them, that you support their cause, or think they are the dumbest piece of shit to ever walk the planet.

People are loosing their social skills and replacing them with social media skills. We will eventually produce a generation that does not know how to communicate face to face. The flourish of the well spoken word will disappear in the same fashion as the elegant handwriting of the greatest generation. You don't have to have special tools to look ahead and see the cliff ahead.... you just have to look up from your smartphone.