Loneliness in Texting

I saw an interesting video on how social media is changing lives.  People with hundreds of "friends" they spend hours texting each day can't compare to the benefits of actually having friends you come into physical contact with on a regular basis.  I didn't need a video to tell me this because I knew it instinctively.  I've seen many, many couples or groups of people who, though together socially, are obviously ignoring each other and choosing to text someone who isn't there.  The saddest sight I ever saw was a father standing in line with his young son waiting to see Santa and, instead of chatting with his little boy, he chose to spend those precious and fleeting moments talking to someone else on his cell phone.  The little boy didn't look happy...but then his father didn't notice because he was too busy on the phone.  Talk about wasted moments!

I wonder if the younger generation is choosing the somewhat limited communication offered by social media such as texting and Facebook because it's less intense than up close and personal.  If you don't have much to say then OMG and WTF might serve your purposes.  It's superficial communication at best and, at worst, the ability to excel at personal interaction suffers.

In contrast, how pleasant it is to converse with a friend who is right next to you...to see their reactions to what is spoken and to hear their laughter during the conversation.  There is a depth of communication there that is totally lost with texting.  LOL can't compare!  

I know I'm quite prejudiced when it comes to cell phones because I can't stand the thought of being tied to one continuously.  I like being out of range of everyone once in a while.  Cell phones will remain popular, though, until the next unique communication device is offered for sale.  I always thought that one day we'd implant newborns with receivers of some sort so they didn't need to use an actual telephone in order to contact someone.  It will happen in time, I know it!