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Aug 6, 2009 8:24 pm US/Central
Good Question: Can We Still Talk Face-To-Face?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
The Internet is all atwitter with how easy it was to crack a popular message-swapping site. Hackers used a relatively simple attack to shut down Twitter Thursday morning. Facebook users experienced glitches, too.
Those sites seemed to be slowly bouncing back as the day went on, but a lot of people experienced some real withdrawal.
That raised the question: Web posts and text messages have become such a part of our lives, have we forgotten how to talk face-to-face?
With technology bringing instant written communication to the palm of our hands round-the-clock, there's a whole lot of typing and perhaps not as much talking going on.
"That can be very efficient but its not necessarily as nurturing as you would have in the give in take of a face-to-face conversation," said University of Minnesota Director of the Institute for New Media Studies Nora Paul. "The exciting thing is you're able to connect with a community of interests in ways you could not do before."
Those who have embraced cyber communication as a way to stay connected admit there's something missing in the message.
"You miss tone of voice, you miss inflection, you miss hand movements. I think a lot of message content goes missing," said Paul.
Instant communication has also become a necessary 24/7 tool in the business world.
"There is a lot of missing from the message content when all you have is text," said Paul.
However, communicating electronically is often a faster, easier way to share information instantly and connect with others.
"It's a way to communicate with your network of friends. Those friends can be far flung but with this kind of instant communication, you can be updated about your friend's lives," said Paul.
And you don't have to feel obligated to talk to them face-to-face.
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