adam @ 404

Brief theory time. Is it possible that blogging communities, such as LiveJounal, are draining people from the social pool? The thought struck me when I read a one line post about someone leaving for another city. There were many comments for this user wishing him safety, luck, etc… I reflected on how I go about my daily life and the fact that I don’t often tell people when I go on trips (even my parents, thats another story). But has this only happened in recent years? Do I tell less people as a result of those fond farewells being moved from voice to telephone to web? I pose many rhetorical questions to ask an honest question, and to make a point.

I do honestly believe that more and more people who have regular access to the web are putting forth more social energy into this network, and as a result are siphoning their energies away from face to face or even telephone networking. For me, its a disheartening thought when I see so much of the “fluff” and very little coordination to actually organize real life human people.

In the future, maybe we’ll need a “turn off your blog” day, just like Television. Granted, TV is a much more passive activity, but atleast you can watch it with your friends, and talk about it during or afterwards. Some basic numbers about how much time and effort people put into things like LiveJournal vs. how much time they put into their daily social lifes would be interesting … over time, over populations, etc… Survey anyone?