Coffee Can Wait. Day’s First Stop Is Online.
"Karl and Dorsey Gude of East Lansing, Mich., can remember simpler mornings, not too long ago. They sat together and chatted as they ate breakfast. They read the newspaper and competed only with the television for the attention of their two teenage sons.
"That was so last century. Today, Mr. Gude wakes at around 6 a.m. to check his work e-mail and his Facebook and Twitter accounts. The two boys, Cole and Erik, start each morning with text messages, video games and Facebook.
"The new routine quickly became a source of conflict in the family, with Ms. Gude complaining that technology was eating into family time. But ultimately even she partially succumbed, cracking open her laptop after breakfast.
“Things that I thought were unacceptable a few years ago are now commonplace in my house,” she said, “like all four of us starting the day on four computers in four separate rooms.”
How much control does technology have over your life?
I'll admit it. I've become a technology addict. I'm online first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I read too many blogs, download too many podcasts and, God help me, I'm even tweeting.
How about you? Are you firing up the computer and scanning email while you wait for your morning coffee fix? Are trips to social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter eating more and more into what used to be your daily life?
How far have you succumbed to technology's mesmerizing spell? Do you need an intervention, or have you taken steps to prevent it from taking your life hostage.
Go ahead. Tell us your story. Use the comment box below or click on the tiny 'comment' line. Confession is good for the soul. Besides, it's on a blog. It must be good.
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My story is similar to yours although I don't "Tweet." I blog (http://delawareriverjournal-rivergeek.blogspot.com/) and am on Facebook and am dependent upon email (and fond of it as a communications tool). I don't think anyone knows where all this is headed and how it will impact human health and families. But I see that the technology is a double-edged sword.
ReplyDeleteI try to use Facebook for reasonably useful purposes, but that seems out of character compared to what others are offering - truly trivial details of their daily lives.
The technology is wonderful for communication and obtaining info but that doesn't help the hopelessly gullible among us, or people who aren't intellectually curious, or articulate enough to express more than a sliver of thought at one sitting.
Witness the hordes of right wing goons packing town halls to exercise their 1st amendment rights, except they won't allow anyone else to be heard. They are witless victims of disinformation, filled with rage and hate for the "other." On the other end of the spectrum, witness the hordes of youths who through texting and Twitter all showed up to riot on South Street a few months ago. Or the Green Revolution in Iran. The Ugly, the Bad and the Good. And it is evolving and morphing every single minute, which in this day and age is a long time.
I've had a similar experience with Facebook.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to set up a "fan" page for your organization and then try to link up with other green-oriented groups. I recently set up such a Facebook page for "EnviroPolitics" and am sending blog posts there. Too early to say whether it will get any traction but it's easy to set up so you might want to try it.
I agree with your comments on the double-edged nature of the Internet. Fascinating to watch how quickly social media also has developed and where it's already taken us.