I don’t know about everyone else but technology is starting to scare me tremendously. If no one has noticed, some of us barely even know how to have a verbal conversation with each other anymore.

All of this non-verbal communication is out of control. I’m surprised we haven’t actually lost our ability to speak since we’re probably not giving our voices much needed exercise.

Technology is making us lazy and making us bad communicators. For goodness sakes, folks are asking each other out on first dates via text messages! (For the record gentlemen, women tend to despise this method of communication, especially if you’re texting from the onset. So, if you’re wondering why you don’t get a response or a lackluster one at best, this is why.) Although it has worked out well for many people, I cannot wrap my head around the idea of ordering a significant other online. People have become too “busy” to meet each other the old-fashioned way like at a grocery store, coffee shop, or gym, opting instead for online dating profiles and speed dating. Anybody speeding through getting to know someone may be asking for trouble. See, lazy!

Now, make no mistake, I love technology as much as the next person but we’ve gone a little overboard. I cannot deny the conveniences technology has brought us; of course, it’s nice to pay your bills online, refill a prescription with a click of a button, or buy absolutely anything, and I mean anything, online. However, we are allowing technology to replace the human touch. Permanently.

When you really think about everything that technology is replacing, it has to blow your mind a little bit. We are truly becoming a Jetsons-like society and it’s unnerving. It affects every aspect of our lives, and unfortunately too many of us don’t know exactly when it’s time for verbal communication because we’re so accustomed to not talking to each other. Many probably don’t care because of the convenience and speediness of an e-mail or text message. We need a self-imposed form of rehabilitation before people start conducting interventions on each other.

I’m not a psychiatrist but no one can convince me that this isn’t a big problem with many of our relationships today. Communication or lack thereof has always been a factor in all sorts of relationships, but technology over-usage is making the communication factor worse in my opinion.

We are too disconnected. Although it has always been a concern of mine, I didn’t start paying more attention to it until a guest in my home commented on the fact that all of us were looking down at our cell phones at the kitchen table. An ugly, pathetic sight that is all too common these days. No matter where I am, it astonishes me how many people are tuned out to what’s happening around them because they’re so focused on their cell phone, laptop, Kindle, iPad/iPod, and the like. A person could be strangled just a few feet away from us and depending on our method of tuned-outness, we wouldn’t see or hear a thing.

Another technology advancement that is really about to make me crazy: cell phone applications. There are apparently hundreds of thousands of them. It seems like there is an application for absolutely everything. It’s as if they’re trying to wipe out all need for human contact. If a new application comes out that claims to be able to wipe your ass, people would download it.

Last, but not least, there’s social networking. We’re on social networking sites so much that even when we network in real time at a real establishment, we seem awkward and out of our element, insisting on checking our facebook and Twitter pages relentlessly. It’s disgusting when you really think about it. You’ll notice that I’m using the word “we” a lot because I certainly include myself in this bunch of lost souls. After all, shamefully I will be utilizing facebook and Twitter to post this blog.

But, you must start somewhere so I’m making a pledge to monitor my intake of technology overall and to be keenly aware of when I’m tuning out too much, especially at inappropriate times, and react accordingly. Sometimes the cell phone simply must be put down and/or turned off. There will be times where your friend or spouse needs your undivided attention. And you, YOU need your own attention.

#technology #socialmedia #communicating