When I was 13, if I wanted to talk to my friends, I’d pick up a phone. Now I’ll just send them an instant message. I want it now. I want it fast. I want it easy. What do I want? I want to communicate with people without even speaking, without seeing them, without hearing them, from the comfort of my bedroom.
What would you do if your instant messenger died? You’d probably sit there and think your life was over. (Trust me, it was over way before that).
According to the Child Trends Databank, in 1997, when most of us were in middle or high school, only 22 percent of children aged 3 to 17 had access to computers and Internet in the home. In 2003, 76 percent had computer and Internet access in their homes. That’s an increase of 56 percent in just six years.
Recent studies have shown mixed results. A 2003 study by researchers at Stanford University concluded that social or anti-social behaviors are not directly caused by instant messaging and that a student’s behavior is merely enhanced by the new technology. But according to a 2002 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, “While instant messaging clients are frequently and widely used for interpersonal communication, they lack the richness of face-to-face conversations.” I think this is closer to reality.
When you have a face-to-face conversation, there are so many components to the interaction. Let’s pretend you’re at a bar. You see a beautiful woman. You go up to her, awkwardly gesturing, obviously sweating and basically looking like an idiot. The woman you’re interested in decides to do the hair flip. (I guess you must be cute). She makes eye contact with you and smiles. You take this as a hint that she might be interested, so you ask her out.
If it weren’t for body language, non-verbal cues and tone of voice, how would you have known if she wants to dip you into Cheez Whiz and spread you on a cracker. Yes, you may feel more comfortable sitting in your Mickey Mouse boxer shorts in the dark of your room with the radioactive glow of your computer. Though face-to-face communication is harder, the results are more rewarding.
I’ll admit it, if I can avoid using my cell phone, I will. I may avoid the phone all day, but there is a guarantee that I will send at least a few e-mails. If you unplug me from the gentle purring of my Macintosh computer, then you unplug my soul. Well, less dramatically, you unplug me from the world. That thought is frightening.
Instant messaging has changed how we form bonds. You could form a pretty good rapport with someone across the Internet. You talk for hours and hours, but when you meet up with the person, it’s like – awkward. Without a physical presence in the beginning of your relationship, the rest of it is just- weird.
Why? We’re human beings. We are meant to interact face-to-face. That’s how we survived all those dinosaurs.
Jasmine Wiggins is a Medill sophomore. She can be reached at [email protected].
Yes, you will probably exclaim at some point (if you are retarded enough to read my “writings”) “Where’s the damn beer?”
