April 29, 2008

youtube divorce rant has experts talking

This article from the today show web site talks about the new trend for people to communicate via web casts, specifically by making a video of a complaint (most common), or even asking someone to marry you, and then posting it to the Internet. It reminded me of the woman who called her husband out for cheating on her; she did it on a billboard in the downtown area of a large city. The article talks about how this is becoming a popular thing to do, they say that it disconnects people from the very nature that is human communication.
What do you think? Is this perfectly normal, because of the direction our society is going, specifically in the technology department? Or is it bad, and truly making us loose our connection with people.

10 comments:

So There I Was...ThouDEEPght said...

I think it is a bad thing. My baby brother was dumped by his girlfriend via msn messenger or facebook. It still bothers him because of how it happened and by doing it online you can't see it coming. I think people have begun using this approach because then there is less confrontation and they do not have to see the hurt that other individual is experiencing. I feel that as a society we need to worry about this. Pretty soon we could see relationships that are completely online and impersonal.

kiwi1009 said...

I agree that's it a bad thing. I think it gives people an easy way out of confrontation with others. We're losing that interaction with one another by not verbally expressing ourselves. It's sad to think that our society is turning more towards MSN messenger, Billboards, the Internet and etc. to do "dirty work" that we should be capable to address directly to the person. It's upsetting to see how interpersonal relationships in today's society are showing more signs of distancing between one another by using such technological methods.

NEfan77 said...

I agree that our society is losing connection with eachother. Think back to when we were talking about what the "rules" for dating are and how we took time to discuss what the etiquette is for using text messages, internet messages and voicemails when asking out or breaking up with someone. 20 years ago, people would not have ever thought to have that impersonoal o a connection with someone. It is said to me that people are using computer mediated communication to cop out of telling what their true feelings are. Guaranteed people aren't posting these things on youtube or calling their partners out in public just to get gratification, part of it is because they don't want to deal with having the confrontation or communication that comes along with their relationships.

UNLstudent said...

I also agree, I think that it is a bad thing that our society is going in the direction of avoiding face to face confrontations. I feel like the younger generations are learning to communicate more and more via online on myspace, facebook and aol instant messenger. I think this can really damage someone's ability to communicate in person. For example, I have a friend who fights with his girlfriend a lot and when they start fighting on the phone they hang up and get on aol chat and fight there instead. I think this is a really weird way to deal with an argument but I think they do it this way because it avoids all emotions.

Blogger372 said...

I think the ease of virtual communication is both a hinderance and a godsend. while it makes instant communication easier, I think it then often is used as the easy way out. I can honestly admit that if I'm angry with my boyfriend and there is something serious I want to talk to him about, but I'm nervous to do it face-to-face, I will text it to him. This then sidelines the fact that often intimate relationships are strengthened through tough discussions.

However, more than women, I have specifically met many guys who will ask girls on dates or break up with them via tet message, and I question whether this is related to the fact that men are often perceived to be less efficient communicators. Even though after this class we all know better ;)

Princess said...

Yeah, I totally disagree with this as well. This goes along with texting, and how people are asking others out, breaking up, etc. over texts. People are afraid of face to face communication, and want to hide behind something that will give them time to think about what to say before they make fools out of themselves. It's also an esacpe, and the easy way, but also disrespectful and tacy. Grow up and deal with things head on, people!!!

ThursNiteSoundtrack said...

I think it is becoming much more normalized to communicate via electronic means. However, I do not think this is a good thing at all. I agree with everyone else, I think that electronic means is a cowardly way out of tough situations. I think people rely too often on the internet or texting to avoid confrontation or awkwardness. Perhaps, the lack of personal interaction can help explain the social downfall of society. People are losing their communication skills so when they go out in public they just embarrass themselves and others because they don’t know how to act anymore.

sally sue said...

I believe that with all the new technology were are becoming a society that is very much so being disconnected from human communication. Even text messaging does this, I have friends that will only text certain people and never ever talk to them on the phone. I actually have one friend that pretty much had a relationship with a guy strictly through text messaging. It makes me sick first of all and it gets me thinking what is this world coming to. Are our children even going to have any social skills at all or are the going to rely on technology 100%?

baseball1 said...

I think this is a bad thing, when you post something on the internet, it is completely different than saying it face to face. It is much easier to say something you will regret on the internet, than saying it out loud. I also think it is very inappropriate for this woman to bring her and her husband's personal relationship to the world wide web. And how did this look to her friends, family, and co-workers? Think about any date she goes on, if she can get a date, where people will recogonize as the crazy woman.

The Man said...

I have to agree that as technology develops and "non-personal" communication methods such as email and text messaging become the social norm for communicating, it allows both men and women to express opinions in a non-verbal and non-personal way. Not only does this allow one to not confront people face-to-face with problems, but it also creates a social norm for non-personal confrontation and communication. It makes a partner in a relationship feel that it is acceptable to deal with problems without having a verbal conversation thus taking away intimacy in a relationship.