Ever watch a group of people where no words are being spoken – yet, with thumbs clicking at lightning speed they are having a conversation? I often feel as though the birth of the group chat brought about the death of the group activity.
Just about everyone these days has a piece of technology that enables them to communicate with anyone more instantly and efficiently than ever before. Good right?
No, not if it’s preventing us from connecting in the real world. The line between the real world and the cyber world is blurring into obscurity. The group chat paradigm shift may be a symptom of a greater problem. Is our obsession with social media making us less able to connect with real people in the real world?
Advocates of social media will argue that it provides us an invaluable link to new people and information that has allowed us to form communities, open people’s eyes and minds to new ideas and give a platform to those whose voices previously were seldom heard.