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 Back in March 2006 TIME magazine asked “Are Kids Too Wired For Their Own Good?” Looking back on the image of the dazed, apathetic boy in the cover photo, surrounded by floating laptops, PDA’s, and (gasp) the original iPod before it was labeled “Classic” is almost like reading a “You Know You’re a Child of the 80’s When…” blog. Hey team, remember when the most connected person you knew had a pager? It’s no accident that no other major publication has touched the scary topic of kids and technology since ‘06- the technology is here to stay and it’s we children of the 70’s and 80’s and even 90’s who are struggling to catch up.
Yet at the dawn of 2010 we’ve moved beyond technology merely to help us function. Sure there’s still a Mac vs. PC debate, but the hot topic now isn’t which windows operating system to use, it’s more MySpace vs. Facebook and do you Twitter? From acronyms like idk to rofl to omg (and these are the clean ones) to CAPS LOCK VOICE to reTweets to emoticons ;] to padding your friend list by fakebooking, technology is not only a part of our lives, it’s gone social. So now that we’re all good and LinkedIn, here’s a review of some of the communication benefits and pitfalls of Social Media.
First, let’s embrace the ability to connect with many people in our lives with minimal effort. There is a value to getting back in touch with your 2nd grade best friend and high school basketball coach that you otherwise wouldn’t have ever heard from again. These people influenced our past and it’s a comfort to feel a small circle of friends grow larger, especially with names and faces that you always kind of wondered about… For the family, friends, colleagues, associates, and acquaintances that we need to keep updated on a daily basis Social Networking is also great. Facebook has allowed me to keep tabs on the birth of my best friends’ first baby from 2000 miles away, and without Skype I couldn’t connect with my old college roommate who now teaches in New Zealand. Here at IMG Academies’, the easiest way to track down a wayward student is to post a friendly reminder about absences on their Wall- you can’t beat the power of classmate comments to keep them in line. That said, checking up on others can be addictive and there is nothing more awkward than getting into a conversation with someone you’re friends with online and having them ask a detailed question related to a status update you posted 5 weeks ago. As connected as technology makes us, it is imperative to avoid becoming a “Social Media Stalker”.
Second, realize that you are accountable for everything you post AND everything your friends post. Unlike those Children of the 80’s, who had a 10 year delay on whispers, rumors, and other conspiracies greeting them at the big High School reunion, information is now instantaneous. Not only will all 847 of your friends’ “friends” immediately know that you tripped and spilled all your food in the cafeteria, but the exponential connection through Twitter will broadcast it to thousands who can all comment on the streaming video they posted of what happened to you 19 seconds ago. So, considering the Ebola virus nature of content-sharing, you should never be afraid to REMOVE FRIEND. In fact, it’s kind of empowering. Other than leaving their request to Inbox rot, it’s the only recourse we have to protect our integrity. Stand tall, er...type tall, and proclaim: no, I do not approve of you posting photos from the latest Siesta Key Bikini Competition. As an added bonus, our social networking sites keep this severed connection anonymous and it always gives me a little pleasure to know that my former “friend” will now have to backtrack through their entire list of pals to figure out who defected and brought them down to only 846.
Lastly, and most importantly, please remember that there is a difference between a cyber relationship and a real one. This is tricky because it can feel so fulfilling to know what everyone’s up to. And more than keeping tabs on others’, when people comment on updates from your own life, it’s easy to have a Sally Field moment: “U <3 me, U rly <3 me”! But as exciting as our written (often misspelled) interactions are, they are hollow in comparison to the sound of a friends’ voice or the sight of their smiling face. So I challenge you to unplug your Netbook and let the batteries run-out on your Crackberry, just for a little while. Staying connected through Social Media is convenient and fun, but a sideways smiley face will never be as powerful as the real thing.
 | Blair Bloomston - Associate DirectorBlair Bloomston currently oversees all junior and elite athlete program and curriculum development as Associate Director for game on at IMG Academies. She has been featured on ABC7 News, ESPN Outside the Lines, Biz 941, Sarasota Magazine, Creative Loafing, The Bradenton Herald, and The Sarasota Herald-Tribune as an expert on communication/social confidence training through improvisation and role playing. |
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