By Leslie N. Dees
The Star Herald
KOSCIUSKO —
“Have you talked to your mom today?” I replied, “No but I emailed her on Monday, Facebooked her on Tuesday, texted her on Wednesday. . .”
It had been three days since I had literally “talked” to my mom on the phone.
Call it a lapse in all things verbal! Is this how it is for everyone these days with the World Wide Web and a smart phone in hand?
This past February, Nielsen’s report that the smartphone market penetration in the United States was almost 50 percent.
The year before smartphones comprised only 36 percent of the market.
Pretty soon, everyone will have a smart phone and the days of just a phone for talking will be obsolete.
On a smart phone, users can talk, text, Facebook, Tweet, email and take photographs just to name a few things.
Are the days of face-to-face verbal communication and regular telephone conversations a thing of the past?
Of course, not, but, for the younger generation it could be on the downhill slide.
A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average young American now spends more than seven and a half hours connected to some electronic device.
Between the social networking, text messaging, video games, television, and listening to music, I wonder how many actual conversations teens are having with their parents and others these days.
And, what’s going on in the silence of those text messages and social networking.
Food for thought.
Leslie N. Dees is managing editor of The Star-Herald. Email her at news@starherald.net or follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lndees.
