Social Networks

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and others are all in some way social networks. Now, I'm not adverse to technology and progress, but I'm still a bit old fashioned and enjoy the human social network.

Picture it, D.C., 2009 (that's my homage to Estelle Getty, "Sophia" from the Golden Girls), a day with no face-to-face human interaction. You wake up to the sound of the alarm clock, stumble into the shower to the voice of someone coming from the radio. No interaction from a morning conversation. Breakfast is a piece of toast and a cup of juice. No interaction with a person in the drive-thru or the grocery store. You're working from home, so there are no co-workers' cubbies to visit or to meet at the water cooler. So you sit at your desk, turn on your computer and read and return emails. Those are your "conversations". When you call into the office, the system is automated and you don't ever need to "speak" to a live person, just push a series of buttons. For lunch, you make a sandwich and a salad and eat in front of the television. No interaction with a live person, just reactions to characters on the television. You make a run to the bank, but have no need to visit a teller; you simply use the non-human ATM. You need gas, but there's no attendant to pump it anymore, so you swipe your card, fill your tank and drive off. Not even eye contact was necessary. At the end of the day, you heat up leftovers and go online to update your "page". Finally, human contact. NOT. All you see is a small picture of friend, family or stranger, as they post their thoughts, moods and stories. Ahh, the end of a long, human-less day. Now wasn't that fun?

Dr. D. Clutter™