<p>^Well it depends on how the conversation went. Like any other real-life convo except you have a message history so you can simply look back as the whole convo unfolds.</p>
<p>I don’t know, I guess I’m just from the last generation that really grew up without these things. I’m 27; I can remember when having the internet was still pretty uncommon. When I was in high school it was still pretty uncommon to have a cell phone. I’m glad I grew up without these things. I never even had the internet at home until I was 18. I got my first cell phone when I was 19. My 6 year old niece already has her own cell phone though.</p>
<p>I’ve met a lot of cool people on facebook in different groups and stuff like that, but I’m not going to personally have any real ‘lasting’ memories of chat sessions on facebook. It’s not a substitute for real life interaction. People communicate in many ways aside from written/spoken word. Facial expressions and subtle gestures can say more than the words at times. You can’t look at someone and really connect with them through a keyboard.</p>
<p>But…I suppose the notion of what ‘real communication’ is has changed a lot.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say changed a lot. More like expanded. I mean we had messaging right? Somehow that led back to face-to-face convo (Skype, Facetime). There are just so many way to communicate with people now. I do feel like we will eventually reach like… holograms level communication (if Star Trek is any indicator) so it will be a return to “facial” communications. </p>
<p>But I understand where you are coming from. You kinda sounds like my mom who is somewhat older lol.</p>
<p>I dunno. I very fondly remember some of my Facebook interactions, even those focused on getting to know each other rather than simple Internet memes and miscellaneous joke fodder.</p>
<p>I still dont have a computer at home </p>
<p>I think Facebook is a good medium to use but not necessary to make friends. I wouldn’t necessarily say that social interaction doesn’t happen on Facebook. I just think with this technological revolution going on, the meaning of social interaction has changed. It’s always best to socialized in person (it’s a lot more human in terms of feelings and body language). I don’t use my Facebook and make friends just fine (I use it solely for networking purposes in terms of professionalism and keeping in contact with old friends and family). I would join clubs and instead of asking for someone’s Facebook name, ask for their number and text! Text to plan hangouts and whatnot. Easy</p>
<p>Facebook has destroyed some peoples ability to be social. Nowadays, when teens post or tweet something and no one replies, they think there is something wrong with them. Facebook can be dangerous. Many people post too much info on it and get arrested or stalked or raped. I have never posted any pictures on Facebook that show who I am, and call me paranoid but I don’t see why I should spent half of my daytime updating photos that may kill me. Now if someone tries to talk to people, they ask “do you have a Facebook?” Or “do you have an Instagram?” And if you say no, they think there is something wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with your life if you don’t have a Facebook or Instagram, I only have a Facebook and the only reason I go on is because i keep getting emails that spam my inbox. Then I find 20 friend requests from people I don’t know. I used to think the posts were funny, but theres a lot of inappropriate posts and cursing that I do not want to be a part of. Theres pictures with girls wearing 20% clothes and showing off the rest of their body. Before Facebook, i didn’t know what the f word meant. I have never thought about having a boyfriend in my life before and I still dont, but because of all this social media, my friend’s 10 year old brother has a girlfriend. what is happening to the world?! I think people were better off without it.</p>
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<p>How long do you think online messaging has been around? The internet hasn’t even really been a standard household fixture for 20 years yet.</p>
<p>But yes, the internet has changed how people socialize quite a bit. You might not have seen it in your lifetime, but it certainly has. It’s sad to see how much it has changed some people. I walk around campus, and I can’t even tell you how often I walk by a big group of people, not one of whom is saying a word because they’re all buried in their cell phones. </p>
<p>The ability to communicate with one another so readily over the internet and through text messaging and such is awesome, but it’s also given people less reason to communicate in person. These types of social skills are necessary to really do anything in real life. A lot of people anymore aren’t really growing up with the ability to just make small talk and carry on a conversation with those around them, because they’re so used to electronic media. </p>
<p>Skype is not “face to face” conversation. Yes, there’s a video feed but it still isn’t a substitute for actual interaction. There are subtleties in human communications that cannot be captured by a webcam. It’s a step above normal messaging, but it’s still a far cry from being face to face. </p>
<p>But, I guess such views are a big part of how the world has changed. People are attached to their devices and their social media anymore. I couldn’t even count how often I see people texting in class, or sitting in the back of a lecture hall with their laptop open browsing on facebook. A lot of younger kids seem to think that this is perfectly okay though. I really don’t get it.</p>
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<p>I agree. I was born in 1994 and, while my dad was an early adopter of the Internet, registering with AOL in 1993, when I was a young kid, my cousins didn’t have it and my friends’ families at least didn’t really use it. I’d say it settled into its current frequency in the early- to mid-2000s.</p>
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<p>Generally it doesn’t bother me much, but I’m not a big fan of trying to have a conversation with one person or a group (such as at dinner) and them being engrossed in electronics, and honestly this isn’t getting any less common.</p>
<p>A lot of the younger kids of today aren’t even going to have a conscious memory of a time when everybody DIDN’T have cell phones, or when the internet wasn’t an everyday household fixture. I have a few nieces and nephews that are in the 12-15 range, and they all have cell phones already. Hell…when I was that age I don’t think I would have WANTED a cell phone…lol…I wouldn’t have wanted my parents to be able to call me and tell me to come home.</p>
<p>I remember when I was in middle school one of my friends got the internet and it was like a big deal at the time. He had a 28k modem. By todays standards, a 28k modem is excruciatingly, painfully slow. It would take multiple minutes to load some pages.</p>
<p>The technology that we have today is great, don’t get me wrong. I love my smart phone. But a lot of it has really taken away from peoples ability to socialize directly with others. I see it all the time in some of my classes. In some of my longer classes, the professor will usually give us a 5-10 minute break. As soon as the break begins, you can see basically every single person in the room pull out their cell phones. Nobody turns to talk to the people sitting around them. Yet how many people come onto forums like College Confidential and complain about how hard it is to make friends in college?</p>
<p>Call me crazy, but I can’t help but see a correlation there…lol</p>
<p>It seems we view this on far opposite ends of the spectrum.</p>
<p>facebook is a waste of time. To make friends in college you can have a chat to people in class as nanotechnology said, go to events,go to parties etc</p>