Week Two: Does Virtual Life change "real" life?

Before we dive into the topic at hand, I must say that my gut answer is the same after some reading and deeper thinking. YES, YES, YES!!!

In "Alone Together," Sherry Turkel looks into the way that technology is changing our social and emotional lives. How different is life now, that we can take a peak at who a person is, or wants us to believe they are, by looking at his or her facebook or Twitter before pursuing further friendship?

How many of us know so much about some girl who moved away ten years ago, even though we haven't spoken with her - but she is our "friend" on facebook? What about the classmate or coworker's social media profile that you find, that depicts a totally different person than you know in "real" life? It's so easy to be someone that we are not when we are the ones creating the profile. How many of us meet with friends, and already know most of the news they are telling us - because we saw their updates yesterday. Or how many of us, when we are meeting with someone face to face, are staring at a phone - reloading for new updates - instead of engaging in conversation with the person that we are with?

How different is life now that we have Instagram, and Twitter? How much does this change our everyday interactions? Who wants to have deep, long and meaningful conversations in person when we are becoming conditioned to 140 character thoughts and brief instant images?  With our Virtual Lives continuing to grow and change, we are more in control - we no longer invest in our relationships personally. We are able to log off, get out - and sometimes even say things from behind a screen that we would've said differently in person.

I love people, I love conversation - and though I am not immune to social media, I find that I am rare in that I would much rather receive a phone call than a text. It seems so impersonal - so easy to misunderstand. Jokes can become offensive through text. There is no punctuation for sarcasm. I can't bring myself to be a part of a conversation where emoticons are mandatory for you to know that I am just kidding. I find that it is necessary to have quality conversations, in person - or even on the phone - with people. There are some things that just are too much to be discussed through social media or text messaging. While Virtual Life - social media, texting, etc - is a great supplement - we should not replace our "real" lives with a virtual one.

I know that it may seem like I've pointed out some negative aspects of Virtual Life, but there are many good things that have come from this too. It is much easier now to get a detailed informed opinion - be it on a class, movie, new restaurant or job. We also have help at the tip of our fingers. I have many times thrown out questions inquiring about class assignments, or local repairmen, or DIY projects. We live now in a world that we can have virtually any questions answered as soon as we think of it - because someone we know will have the answer, or know someone who does.

Our lives are different now - with instantaneous updates on news, weather, and research. We are able to tap into a whole community of people with the tap of a finger. Answers that may have taken hours or days of research to find now can take considerably less. We are able to learn and grow together.

So yes - Virtual Life has brought many good things - the ease of access to help or advice about everyday needs, the occasional pinterest recipe that turns out amazing, the weather updates that remind you to put on a coat today, or even the occasional tweet about a class assignment that gives you deeper understanding. We just must be sure to utilize this technology for the right purposes, and to put our phones down at dinner.