THE SOCIAL NETWORK: Is Technology Taking Over Your Personal Life?

Is technology taking over your personal life? Join the club. A new study from the University of Michigan shows that most people communicate over social networks or email about as often as they speak face-to-face.

The average person has about 75 face-to-face conversations a month, compared to 74 electronic interactions on Facebook, Twitter, email and Skype. The downside is you’re more likely to be misunderstood when relying solely on electronic communication. When you communicate offline, you benefit from reading a person’s face and better understand their moods and behaviors. Women’s Health recommends allocating two or more hours per week for human interaction to keep technology from running your life.

 Which is what I was just telling my 14 year old Alec the other day.  Texting is for communicating information, not for emotion.  There is no emotion in text. 

Here's a repsonse to that story from a listener:

love, love, love your comments this morning in regards to electronic communication vs. electronic tools!   I couldn’t agree more!   I am at the age where I consider myself in the ‘digital divide’.   I think all this texting is rude when you are in the presence of others and I agree with the no emotion – you can’t tell for sure how to ‘take’ someone’s email.   

 MJ Fisher

Wahoo, NE morning listener