And now, a bit of navel gazing

I read an article earlier this week about how college students are scoring lower than ever on empathy. This study included about 30 years of research and multiple studies. All this, in an age when more and more schools are requiring volunteer service for graduation and colleges are incorporating service-learning into the curriculum.

The speculation is that despite the trends towards more and more public service for youth, our "wired" society means that people, especially youth, have less and less face to face contact with each other. Despite being more connected to the minutiae of peoples' lives, we actually know less about them as real people. Also, because so many relationships are experienced electronically, if a person decides they aren't interested in a person's troubles, angst, or the conversation . . . they merely can hang up, not answer, ignore, or retaliate through the media without ever actually facing the other party directly.

So, this has me thinking about my own life and relationships. I still like talking on the phone with my friends. I admit I miss the days of letters exchanged. And, I email, IM, blog (or, as I've started to refer to it "masturbate") Tweet, and facebook. But, I still think I have a pretty good read on who is "real" in my life and who isn't. Yes, I have favorite bloggers, but I don't necessarily think of them as "friends."

But, I am realizing more and more the need to critically evaluate all those blogs, tweets, IMs, emails, and facebook posts . . . in much the same way we view mass media. Because we so rarely hear people's voices or see their faces in our communications, it is harder and harder to evaluate the truthfulness of any interaction. It is easier and easier to "control your own brand" through electronic media. And, as more and more of our relationships are based on electronic exchanges, I am more and more cynical for the future.

Now, having blathered on and on about this . . . possibly not even really making sense. I feel the need to hunt up some writing paper and a stamp.