Communication
I look at "communication" via texting, whether it be by phone, Facebook, or some livetime chat app, and it kills me. Its prevalence indicates a slide away from "real" communication. Making telephone calls to hear the inflection of voice on the other end is out. Writing letters, so that you can see the emotion behind your correspondent's words is extinct. You can be "friends" with someone on Facebook, but when you see them on the street, you pass each other with a veil of busy-ness. All this kills me because I've fallen into the trap. I leave messages for people on Facebook, knowing well that our friendship ends at the virtual universe's tangible end.
We are vectoring toward a lowly nation of cowards hiding behind avatars and profile pictures...as have I been.
When I exchange conversations with someone via text, the only context clues I can provide are a small array of smiley faces. I consider myself a pretty sarcastic guy, but I rarely mean offense. Very little personality carries through and aggravation, frustration, and misinterpretation ensues.
I used to play World of Warcraft and although I spoke with some people through a voice server, but I didn't with the bulk of the population there. Way too often--but par for the course--people misinterpreted the context and connotation of comments made there; the resultant social dysfunction was abstruse and expected all at once. But my frustrations due to horrible communication carried outside of the game and I hated it.
Likewise, all the miscues through texting with Casie or whoever causes unnecessary tension.
So what?
So there are some people I can only communicate with through Facebook, for example, and I'll continue to do that. But people with whom I actually have the capabilities to talk on the phone, write letters, or see, I will do what I can to reconnect with.
I'm tired of my inhumanity. I want to live real connections. I miss people.
We are vectoring toward a lowly nation of cowards hiding behind avatars and profile pictures...as have I been.
When I exchange conversations with someone via text, the only context clues I can provide are a small array of smiley faces. I consider myself a pretty sarcastic guy, but I rarely mean offense. Very little personality carries through and aggravation, frustration, and misinterpretation ensues.
I used to play World of Warcraft and although I spoke with some people through a voice server, but I didn't with the bulk of the population there. Way too often--but par for the course--people misinterpreted the context and connotation of comments made there; the resultant social dysfunction was abstruse and expected all at once. But my frustrations due to horrible communication carried outside of the game and I hated it.
Likewise, all the miscues through texting with Casie or whoever causes unnecessary tension.
So what?
So there are some people I can only communicate with through Facebook, for example, and I'll continue to do that. But people with whom I actually have the capabilities to talk on the phone, write letters, or see, I will do what I can to reconnect with.
I'm tired of my inhumanity. I want to live real connections. I miss people.