"Friends"... via thumb.

On Tuesday, February 22, Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times caught my eye with her article on texting. The article, called "'Friends' Without A Personal Touch", described the downfall of the up rise in technology. "Teenagers send and receive six to eight thousand texts a month and spend hours a day on Facebook". With the rise of technological communication came the fall of face-to-face communication. Kakutani writes, "Instead of real friends, we "friend" strangers on Facebook. Instead of talking on the phone (never mind face to face), we text and tweet".

I could not possibly agree more with this article. I see "kids" who are 5-6 years younger than me that have extremely poor communication skills. People become so dependent on the "safety" and comfort of communicating with their thumbs, that they forget the importance of genuine, in-person communication. Texting and tweeting give one the ability of control and openness without discomfort. I truly believe that if these outlets continue to expand (Facebook, Twitter, Smart phones, etc.); our generations to come with have zero face-to-face communication abilities.

This article also tied in with something we recently learned in Chapter 3 of "Language: the Social Mirror" by Elaine Chaika. On page 81, "Kinesics" is discussed. Kinesics is essentially the uses of style and body motion-- aka nonverbal communication. Kinesics, voice quality, and indexical meaning (voice quality, intonation, pitch, etc.) are completely lost through the beast of texting and Facebook. First hand, I have seen how a text message or a status post can be unbelievably misconstrued and misread. The way someone types "I luv u", or "I love you! <3" can be misinterpreted, so on and so forth. I have seen relationships struggle and friendships plunder. I have seen situations over-analyzed and words twisted simply because of a missing exclamation point! You don't even need to "get to know" someone anymore, you simply just have to look at their Facebook profile. Dating and friendships have become totally impersonal. Women have been known to "over-analyze", as it is. With the missing nonverbal aspect of texting, to the nonexistent pitch of tweeting-- these forms of communication are quick and easy, but are crippling us in the long-run.

Below is a funny video I found on how texting can be completely misinterpreted!

So fellow classmates I ask you, have texting and Tweeting taken over your life? More importantly, has something like the above video ever happened to you? I challenge you to give up these technologies for a week and see if it forces you to be more hands on (or should I say, "hands off") with your communication skills :)

Theory of Symbolic Interactionism.

Once upon a time in Comm 211, I had a great interest in Symbolic Interactionism.  This Theory started sometime in the 1930s with a gentleman named George Herbert Mead. He believed that symbols were the foundation of both personal and social life. In other words, one can acquire their identity only by interacting with others. By doing so, people learn language and perspectives of our social world. Fast forward to Comm 335, and Symbolic Interactionism is in my life again as an example of a "language" theory.

Symbolic Interactionism essentially comes with three key concepts, the "Mind", the "Self", and the "I and ME" factor. MIND: Because language expresses social meanings, in learning language, individuals also learn from the "meanings of society"; SELF: Self-fulfilling prophecy >> aka, imposing on yourself what others think of you; I and ME: I is the impulsive "devil on the shoulder" of one, ME is the socially conscious "angel on the shoulder" that reflect's on "I's" impulses and actions.

Now that I've reflected on my notes as a Comm 211 student, how does this tie in with Comm 335 and more importantly, my own personal life?
An instance I found relatable was the way a friend of mine reads into text messages and emails from a guy. Guys and girls, in my opinion, speak an entirely different language. Her expectations and readings into these essentially nonverbal messages, sometimes get her into trouble.

I feel "I" and "ME" concepts every day. We are all faced with daily choices; occasionally these choices are between things we do want to do, or do not want to do. For example, nearly every day the devil on my shoulder (my "I" concept) tells me, "Stay in bed all day, you don't need to go to class"; but the "ME" on my shoulder, the socially conscious me, forces me out of bed and into my car. The video below is an example of an "I" and "ME" situation.

So I ask you, in what instances do you find your "I" and "ME" battling it out?