I don’t know about you, but I would rather talk to someone on the phone or face to face rather than by a text message. Sure, there are times when text messages are beneficial – short to the point, need to contact many at one time or it is inconvenient for a person to take a call. I have a friend who would rather have me text him rather than call him. And if I do call him, I feel like it is an imposition. As a result, my friendship with him is not as strong as it once was. I am afraid that expediency comes with a price.
Now about social media – it seems to me that it is not so social. Some of the back and forth is downright crude and mean. Again, I have a friend who is prone to post inflammatory things and then likes to sit back and watch the melee. I call it “bomb throwing.” The sad part of it is he is a retired pastor.
So, you ask, why post these thoughts? Perhaps, it’s venting or maybe it is because it is a lament about how divisive and impersonal our society has become. It seems to me, as a result, that our social fabric is weaker rather than stronger.
I am interested in your thoughts, so please leave a comment.
Written communication is predated only by face to face conversation, and each has its strengths and uses. My husband used to play postal chess, and a game could take months. During that same era, a baseball game could take hours and hours. I currently enjoy email conversations with a friend several times a day, and a particular conversation may continue over several days. The common thread of the above is the ability to be more deliberate in what is said when one takes the time to think about it. Time, that’s an issue. Is it THE issue? Lee, I know you don’t object to written communication. How could we have the Bible if all we had was oral communication, stories passed along generation to generation of fallible humans? Another issue might be lack of feedback, best obtained by face-to-face interactions but also in merely audible ones. Social media seems to be giving permission to act without taking time for thinking and without obtaining true feedback from the recipient. A ping-pong game of words can be a race to the bottom. But what is behind this change in our use of time and disregard for the opinions of others? This is an onion with many layers to be peeled, but I suspect the core contains an attitude of rejection of God and a turning toward the world. Your thoughts?
Loading...
P.S. Your info at the bottom of the website lists a phone number but states, “Send us an email.” Might be contradictory?
Written communication is predated only by face to face conversation, and each has its strengths and uses. My husband used to play postal chess, and a game could take months. During that same era, a baseball game could take hours and hours. I currently enjoy email conversations with a friend several times a day, and a particular conversation may continue over several days. The common thread of the above is the ability to be more deliberate in what is said when one takes the time to think about it. Time, that’s an issue. Is it THE issue? Lee, I know you don’t object to written communication. How could we have the Bible if all we had was oral communication, stories passed along generation to generation of fallible humans? Another issue might be lack of feedback, best obtained by face-to-face interactions but also in merely audible ones. Social media seems to be giving permission to act without taking time for thinking and without obtaining true feedback from the recipient. A ping-pong game of words can be a race to the bottom. But what is behind this change in our use of time and disregard for the opinions of others? This is an onion with many layers to be peeled, but I suspect the core contains an attitude of rejection of God and a turning toward the world. Your thoughts?
P.S. Your info at the bottom of the website lists a phone number but states, “Send us an email.” Might be contradictory?