Nothing beats face to face...

Cute pic right? Well, I'm using it to represent my sentiment concerning face to face interaction...it's just too precious and so necessary for developing into a normal, healthy human being. Hands down, face to face is still the best way to communicate with new friends, old friends, family, colleagues... people in general. Yes, sometimes it can be a bit awkward, especially when you are clumsy like me and tend so how manage to spill food on yourself every time your in public. At other times, it can be frustrating, especially when you just can't spit out the right words at the right time to express the exact thought you have in your head. However, the joy of making a friend, meeting up with someone for the first time or in a long team and just really connecting just can't be beat. Even with all the technology in the world and all the continuous buzz around social media, nothing can replace the face to face.

No social media is not a fad. (Watch the video if you're still not convinced.) And I am not a social media hater. However, it will never replace the joy, or the necessity of meeting people face to face.



Yes, this video is totally crazy, a little bit scary and kinda makes me want to hide out for a while and unplug myself from all the chaos. Even for me, a Gen X/Yer, (I'm not sure really where I fit in..the end of Gen X or the beginning of Gen. Y), who is expected to be a tech savvy, up to date, early adopter of all this stuff, it's all just a bit, a huge bit, overwhelming. I can't imagine what it's like for the older...well you know... the more mature generation of folks like my mom, who still has difficulty figuring out how to get all her mother's day photos off her digital camera. It's no wonder since for most, including myself, by the time we figure out how to use the technology of today, it's obsolete. This whole change in the world of media, communication, technology is happening way too fast at an impossible rate to follow.

So what can we do? We can either hide from it all and hope it goes away, taking the ostrich mentality. (But let's face it. It's not going away anytime soon.) Or we can embrace it to enhance our face to face interactions and our care for others in our "network". Social networking is just a tool to enhance our real personal relationships, rather than a time-sucking virtual leech that replaces our real life relationships and interactions. You decide.

P.S. In my real life network, I made two new friends, who are not yet my Facebook friends. :) This may not sound so significant, but think about it. Unless you are in school, starting a new job, moving to a new city, when was the last time you made a friend? That's supposed to be the refreshing part.