FACEBOOK VS. FACE-TO-FACE (GUEST POST)

A few weeks ago, I announced an invitation to be a guest-writer in my blog. Few responded and were willing to write. (I am still waiting for those who responded to submit their articles). The first one who submitted is a pretty blogger named Bujuy, whom I met online even way before my blogging days. She is also a blogger who pens, Survivor Superwoman which is a very worthy read. Here is her article about social media. 

I've never met Bing (this blog's author). We were brought together by a woman's forum based in the Philippines. We were two married Filipinas living in the East Coast who found a common ground in one discussion thread. We started sending emails to each other after our casual online meeting and voila! Instant friends. When I received a tweet from Bing one morning asking me to be a guest writer on her blog, I was honored and ecstatic. I figured that the best blog post would be to focus on social media, the instrument that made us online buddies.

Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, Twitter and all other social networking sites---there has been a surge of membership at social networking sites within my group of friends since the late 90's. Some friends kept away from these sites because they just did not have the time nor did they want personal information available for everyone to see. Whether people tend to avoid new technology or embrace it, online social networking sites cannot be ignored.

Social networking can bring together those separated from family and friends by long distances. It can also bring people together from different backgrounds who might otherwise never have met. Such is the case of Bing and me. We've never met each other. but we know each other's faces, states of residences, email addresses, birthdays, husbands, children, likes and dislikes, and other stuff that we openly share online.

However, online interaction is so convenient that people lack the drive to actually interact face-to-face. Such is the case of Bing and me. Our conversations are now limited to comments on our blogs or random emails and tweets to each other. It is so convenient that we never even discussed meeting face-to-face at all. To think that we only live a state away from each other.

Facebook and other social networking sites are definitely replacing face time. As people begin spending more and more of their time on social media, it seems they spend less and less time talking, and actually seeing the other person. In fact, it seems like people don't even chat on the phone anymore now that they've discovered that they can text anybody at any time at any place.

According to the discussion forum on the ISTE Community, individual needs and characteristics can only be identified through effective communication---and communication itself is not best achieved in a climate which allows for only one medium. Face-to-face is, and will always be, an important component of education, at least for as long as it is  a human endeavor with humanistic objectives.

Everyone, at some point, needs the face-to-face contact with another human being in order to maintain their social skills. There are skills such as body language and eye contact that can never be replaced by merely sending a tweet to a friend. When we rely exclusively on electronic communication for social interaction, it is likely to damage rather than enrich lives.

As with everything in life, such as food, shopping, and alcohol, the message is that Facebook and other networking sites are a good thing in moderation.

One day, I hope to meet Bing in person. I hope we can have coffee at one of those little hole-in-the-wall shops in Manhattan. We'll laugh about the idiosyncrasies of life, we'll show our family photos to each other, and finally we'll see how tall (or short) we really are in person as compared to our Facebook pages. We are only about a state (an hour) away but because of life's complexities, personal schedules, and yes, the convenience of social media, we are reduced to communicating through Twitter these days. Till we finally meet my online friend.

RELATED POSTS:

THE PROBLEM WITH SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL NETWORKS (AND FACEBOOK ADDICTS)

RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT TYPEPAD, TWITTER AND FACEBOOK

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Comments

[I Love-Hate America by Bing]

Face-to-face human contact promotes deeper relationships than social sites.
We discussed meeting at Jollibees in NY, yet we had never come into arranging it. I also would like to meet you soon....it's not about lack of time, but the travel distance. Hhehehe.

[Bujuy]

One day we will meet at Jollibee, my friend! Thank you for asking me to be a guest writer! I am honored.

[lunaticg]

I also think that sharing your private information is a dangerous thing to do. You don't know when someone will use your information without you knowing. I try to share as little information about my real life as i can online.
Great post.

[I Love-Hate America by Bing]

BUJUY--We'll arrange that.

LUNATIC G.---That's the scary part.

[Dianne]

I guess I've been quite lucky.. I've met a large majority of my Facebook friends :) There are still some online friends that I haven't had the pleasure of meeting, but we have talked on the phone, and I make use of my Skype account on a regular basis.

[Rose]

hello how are u friend?
i'm rose
walking in your blog
Thanks...nice blog
keep update
Drop EC and follow
drop and follow me too
Aceh Barat

[Another Blogger]

I refer face to face when we can, but facebook or others online community is not bad :)

[ben]

Because of Facebook I met lovely Filipina singles. And now I'm starting to get serious with my Pinay girlfriend.

Wish me luck...lol

[pinoy word of mouth]

I agree. Using the internet to interact is beneficial to some point, but totally giving less time to personal contact makes us less human.

Nice blog site. Hope you can visit my site to. http://pinoywordofmouth.blogspot.com