Real talk

While I really love technology, I sometimes miss the days when things weren't so impersonal.

Thank you, cell phones and social media.

Don't get me wrong—I love Facebook for many reasons. It's very useful in creating events and quick to get RSVPs, it's an effective way for the people in our running community to stay in touch with one another, and it's a great way to share your pictures with family and friends. All-in-all, it's so much easier to keep up with people you don't get to see on a daily basis.

But it's definitely not my favorite invention.

Just the other day, one of my students needed to get in touch with someone for a story she was working on for the newspaper. Rather than call or go in person to get the information she needed, she said, "Oh, I'll just tweet it to her." Really? It made me sad to hear that people don't really communicate as well as they used to.

There have been many times when I've gotten messages or comments on Facebook from friends and thought to myself, "I really miss our real conversations." I feel like friends I used to talk on the phone with more often now think Facebook is the answer to all means of catching up. I think that's fine if you're keeping in touch with acquaintances, but I think genuine friendships need face-to-face time or at least phone calls if that's not an option.

They don't need Facebook.

Everyone has a birthday, and it's always fun when people write you nice little things on your Facebook wall on your special day. But I think it is more meaningful when people actually pick up the phone and call you to give you those warm wishes, especially people close to you. Facebook is great for those impersonal relationships with people you probably don't hang out with often or ever, but it's not great for the people who matter more to you in life.

I even remember a couple of years ago, one of my good friends wrote on my Facebook wall to wish me a happy birthday. No call. No text. Nothing else. I'm not going to lie—I wasn't thrilled about that.

And, as much as I love texting, I think it's often a detriment to our society, as well—and not just for grammatical reasons.

My sister hates texting, and occasionally I'm in the same boat with her. It's wonderful at times—when you need to send someone a short note, when you're at work or somewhere where you can't have a full conversation with someone, or when you really don't want to talk a lot. However, there are many moments when it's simply better if you actually hit the call button. If texting is your only form of communication in any kind of relationship, it's likely not going to be a very strong one. People need to hear each other's voices; people need to spend time together; people need to make time for one another.

Besides, texting gives people way too much response time. You can't have quality conversations with that many pauses. It's not normal.

Obviously I'm not giving up texting or all social media. As I mentioned, I find Facebook to be very beneficial in certain regards, but I also think it's also an inimical form of "talking" to others. Instead of commenting on a friend's post to say, "Hope you're doing well," why not go sit for a bit over coffee and find out how that person is actually doing.

"LOL" and the "Like" button can only take you so far—it's good every once in a while to share some real laughs and love with people beyond the screen.