Connected or not?

The story isn't new, it's been going on for the last decade as technology infiltrates all the nooks and crannies of our lives and brings about changes, some good, some we think are good and some we just have no idea about. The big story of connection has been publicised, commercialised and most of all socialised as our lives become running serials played out on all manner of internet stages. The net has become the great detective, delving back into our lives to reconnect, for just a second, with that long lost boyfriend from school, past colleagues and the flotsam and jetsam that made an impact but not always enough to be worthy of belonging to your inner circle.

The post office no longer delivers letters because we have become accustomed to instant replies and quick snatches of conversation over WiFi that make the walk to the letter box obsolete. Those letters were a connection to anyone outside your town or city and the more you wrote the better connected you became. They usually consisted of relevant news, a show of undying love for someone, family ties and a link across the miles to make someone feel closer. Letters were bulky, lengthy, involved, complicated, heartfelt and took a while to compile and because of this, you chose wisely, the recipients who would read your thoughts with reverence attached.

Aside from people you saw everyday, letters were the closest thing to a connection or relationship, until that new fangled technology, the phone, turned up and we embraced another avenue to connect. Technology hasn't stopped since then and today it has fragmented our relationships into bytes of connections that scatter our affection and our attention so wide, sociologist think it has become impossible to give everyone the time they deserve. When they look at relationships, it is face to face that is considered the most important with great worth attached to conversations over a meal, a gathering of friends at the local, or to be in the moment with someone close? These are the difficult measures within the new technology landscape where we say we are connected, but to what extent?

Sociologists and psychologists suggest we are not as connected as we used to be and our online connections are shallow and not worthwhile and point to internet activities like online dating, where connections seldom reach a relationship stage, even after finally meeting. The nearly one billion on Facebook would likely disagree and see their connections as worthwhile and talk about the changes in relationship, where the focus is on many not just a select few.

We are becoming used to the speed of our world and always being connected and maybe our relationships don't require as in depth and lengthy touches as the letters of bygone years? If we are always connected and touch, ever so briefly, on a more constant basis, then we are surely making up for the long letters no matter how heartfelt they may have been. Constant touch gives a surety to relationships, which the net has been able to reproduce in many forms. Who hasn't sent pictures to Grandma, who hasn't sent an e-Birthday card and who hasn't marvelled at a smiling face Skyping from far away? All done quickly, all done easily and all done with forethought for the receiver.

Connections and relationships are what you make of them, no matter the medium and no matter the communication methods used. Why not sent Granny a text today?