Ever since the book came out, I've received feedback about how it's made women think about friendships throughout their lives, as well as who is in their lives now. The goal of this blog is to open up and create a dialogue about friendships: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Each week I will post my thoughts, experiences, as well as various articles, topics or quotes that I feel are important when examining female friendships. Please feel free to leave comments; I look forward to hearing from you!

Email me: survivingfemalefriendships@gmail.com

Follow me: https://www.facebook.com/Surviving-Female-Friendships-839907162798307/?ref=hl https://twitter.com/ZangaraNicole

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

My...How Communication Has Changed!

Now that I've joined the world of Twitter (@ZangaraNicole), I'm noticing (and learning) a lot about how we communicate and share information.  First of all, when something happens, one must take time to post it on Facebook, write a tweet, put it on Instagram and/or link it to one's blog.  Oh, plus send out an email, text message and possibly make a phone call (but who does that anymore?!).  Is this how we're communicating?  It's exhausting!

Add to these several modes of communication, Twitter only allows you to tweet 140 characters, so you're limited in what you can write...which for some people, may be a good thing (you know who I'm talkin' about).  What I have noticed on Twitter is that some of the tweets are filled with so many hashtags and/or shortened words, that I'm left feeling puzzled about what the tweet is about in the first place!  Am I the only one?!  And what is a hashtag?  I seem to not fully understand Twitter - maybe I'm Twitter-challenged...

It seems we are communicating through all of these sources instead of just having one source.  Remember calling someone and that being the only other form of communication besides seeing this person?  I remember those days!  Now I feel as if I'm trying to keep up or else I'll miss something.  I can only imagine how my parents and their friends feel about the constant changing of technology.  Or am I just getting old?  Wait, don't answer that.

In addition, many of us are so connected to our mobile device that we're staring at that all day, instead of having real-time person to person interaction.  Rather than saying, "I laughed so much last night at so and so's party," we're saying, "Your Facebook post was hysterical!"  What happened to simple communication between two people instead of between everyone, including your mother and probably your third cousin.  It feels chaotic to me.

In all seriousness, I'm starting to wonder how technology and social media are impacting the younger generations and their friendships.  Can we truly get to know our friends through Twitter and Facebook?  Is that the direction we're going - most of our communication/interaction is going to be through social media? 

I believe our friendships are being affected by social media.  I also believe that there are both positive and negative impacts; on one hand, we are able to connect faster and in an easier way through social media.  We can share information in a matter of seconds to a great number of people.  On the other hand, it seems that quality is being substituted for quantity - how many friends one has on Facebook or how many followers one has on Twitter - and so I wonder about the impact this all has on friendships.  Many people would rather share exciting news through Twitter than call a friend - yes, it saves time, but our are friendships suffering due to easier ways of connecting?

What are your thoughts?  If you're a Twitter/Facebook/Instagram user, how often are you on it?  Is that how you keep up with your friends?  How have these modes of communication impacted your friendships?

3 comments:

  1. Yeah I definitely DO NOT understand hashtags haha... Eric has tried to explain them to me so many times and I'm still like um... what? I have to admit I do like social media because for me its so much less exhausting at the end of a long day than calling someone or going to a party and that's what I need. Even still, I am not on it THAT much compared to a lot of people which is probably because I don't have time to be on it at work at all. I check facebook and twitter about once a day, and post every few days on each. I do have instagram too but I forget to check it for weeks at a time haha.

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  2. All of this instant communications is good...AND bad! I'm a fan of technology, but wow, sometimes I miss the old days (I'm 45, so things used to be sooo different). I read your book and you hit the nail on the head when it comes to hanging on to friendships in this high-tech world we live in.

    When it comes to technology, I suppose it's all in the way you use it. I email (don't text-I know, I know-I'm probably the only one on the planet who doesn't) and I leave voice mails, but I still CALL my friends!! I even handwrite a note every now and then. Handwritten sentiments are kept for years sometimes, but a text or voice mail evaporates into thin air.

    Love this blog, by the way. I haven't ever commented, but I really do read all of the posts. So interesting!

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  3. Welcome, Sarah! I'm glad you enjoyed the book and love the blog! I agree with your statement about how cards or other handwritten notes can be kept and are a nice reminder of a friendship, whereas a text message or voicemail "evaporates into thin air" (great point!).

    I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts :-)

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