This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Texting, Facebook and Twitter

Twitter, Facebook and texting are allowing people to communicate with each other like never before - but are these social media tools straining our interpersonal communication skills?

I like to think I’m pretty saavy when it comes to technological communication.  I’m a Facebook user, a very capable texter and on the verge of  creating  a Twitter account. Okay, maybe I’m just a little behind in the Twittering department. 

I am a people person and I like keeping in touch, whether it’s finding out what’s new in someone’s life or just sharing a good story. Today’s technology offers us the ability to  communicate the most trivial information at the speed of lightening. With the simple pressing of a few buttons you can literally inform hundreds, if not thousands  of people, on anything as lame as taking a shower to the meaningful moment of giving birth. 

While the potential for good is obviously present there is also a downside.

Find out what's happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Once our own children came of age to receive their own cell phone we quickly learned the cell phone plan to call and actually talk to someone wasn’t enough.  Texting took us all by a storm, cost five dollars more a month and completely eliminated the need to talk to anyone. If you could learn to manipulate the tiny phone keyboard you were good to go. If you have teens you have probably been forced to learn how to text.  Afterall, it is a primary form of communication for that age goup.

According to Nielsen Company, U.S. teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages a month.  That means nearly 80 times a day your teen may have been interrupted to either receive or send a message. The fact that one’s attention is drawn away from whatever they are doing at the moment that many times a day to receive an incoming text is frightening. We are an instantaneous society  but we must ask ourselves where the line should be drawn.

Find out what's happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Another serious concern of the texting craze is that teens are far more comfortable with this mode of communication than picking up the phone and having a conversation. This will certainly have implications on our children’s social skills. When was the last time your child picked up the phone to talk to anyone? Are we raising a generation of youth that finds it difficult to have a face to face conversation?

Facebook, an online social network,  has also claimed our kids, maybe you too. It has about six hundred million usesers worldwide. At its inception it was sacred ground for Harvard students. Gradually, it was opened to others and so  became standard for teens. Then adults wanted a piece of the action too. For me, it has become another way to keep in touch with just about anyone. Trying to reconnect with a  friend from high school? Try finding them on Facebook. Chances are solid they will be users too. Wonder how your cousin from Albuquerque is?  Check out Facebook.  I’ve “friended” all of my immediate family, cousins, high school friends and colleagues. But can it go too far?

If you have not done so already, check out how many”friends” your child has on Facebook. You might be surprised to find your teen will have hundreds, maybe even a thousand  friends. Anything posted by your child, whether it be an announcement of a party they went to, pictures of themselves, family and friends or an emotional outpouring, can be viewed by all these so called “friends.”  If settings are not  private then friends of friends, literally thousands of people, can access this information and much more. 

Facebook gives us the ability to share the most miniscule detail of our lives. If you take the time to read postings you know they run the gamut, sometimes crossing boundaries of what should be shared publicly. Cyber bullying has become one major issue. Vulnerable teens friending people they don’t  know allows Facebook to be a playground for predators. While Faceook can be fun and even harmless, it is important to be clued into the ins and outs of how it works.

I am just on the cusp of getting a Twitter account. It is not that I necessarily want one. For me it is an opportuity to understand my kids’ world just a little bit better, both the good and the bad. I already know that I will have to make a committent to “follow” others and if I’m Twitter  worthy others will “follow” me. 
See, I am already catching on just by getting to know the lingo. 

I’m not quite sure what the future will bring in terms of technological communication. I imagine an old fashioned phone call will become obsolete.  Perhaps texting, Facebook and Twitter will be a thing of the past as well.  Mark my word, someday we will yearn for the past and come full circle. But for now, Tweet on!

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?