Social Networking

The invention of cell phone and internet or the combination of the two brought a significant change in human social networking. We can even say that they are the evolutionary products in term of social networking. With the daily advancing internet integrated smart phone, we are now living in an era that the physical positions of human bodies don’t matter. People can be reach anywhere anytime in seconds within the network coverage. And we are now able to work remotely; corporate on projects without considering the geographical location, and instantly share our lives with friends in sites like face book and twitter. To certain extent, advance social networking technologies increase the efficiency of work and communication. But there are also dark sides to it. That is when people are too in to it, and then it became addiction. For example, one day I was walking on the street, I saw two polices on patrol. One of them was walking with full attention to his blackberry with two fingers typing, I guess he was texting. He was on duty but it was like he exists and not exists at the same time. His physical body was on duty whereas his mind was somewhere else. I really doubt the quality of his job.
I think in the near future, the social networking technologies might evolve into deviceless. That is when we are able to communicate directly through the air without the supports of any physical devices. I will call that the truly air communication.
Source:
"What Are You Doing? Media Twitterers Can’t Stop Typing" by Alessandra Stanley, The New York Times, February 28, 2009, p. C1.