Have you noticed
that when it's your birthday and Facebook very kindly informs your
friends and family and your timeline is then filled up with wonderful
wishes to have a happy birthday. Who sends birthday cards? When I
look back at mine, I would never have received that many birthday
cards!! Facebook has made it easier in one way to remind us of
birthdays but in another sense, it has taken away the enjoyment of
opening an envelope and looking at someone's hand writing. Which is
why this article jumped out at me today.. and yes, I saw it online.
Technology and
social media has drastically reduced that face to face interaction. I
for one miss it badly, living in rural France. Having moved from a
vibrant city, I am fine with my own company. During the day I focus
on my work with very little interruption... the only white noise I
have is the sound of a lorry whizzing by on the D948 [please remember
that I love to quote D roads in France]. So by the end of the day, I
would have had numerous virtual conversations but no real ones, where
sound left my mouth. There are times when I talk to the dogs, but
it's a one way conversation. My DM box on Facebook is more active
than my email inbox, and is more or less my central communication hub
for business and leisure. So making a visit to see people and having
2 way conversations is very important to me.
Living in rural
France you have to make a point of going out. You have to make a
point of seeing people. You have to make those social connections.
That sometimes means putting yourself out to do things that you might
not have done back in the UK. That does mean from time to time
taking yourself out of a comfort zone.
What worries me for
both sides of the Channel is that the older generation will feel more
disconnected. While research suggests that the over 55s have caught
up with my generation and millennials by using smart phones and
ipads, what about our grandmothers and grandfathers? They like to
listen to the news each night via the TV, not an update that appears
in a twitter feed or Facebook timeline. They like to hear stories
about your day. They want to feel that they are still part of a
family. And for those who do actually make a visit to their
grandparents, do you actually talk and listen? Or is the visit just
spent scrolling through the phone and showing the latest selfie?
Being in the same room is not the same as being present and engaging
in a two-way conversation with important people. We are already
seeing the disconnect from the millennial generation. While they feel
that technology helps them stay close to friends and family, their
definition of staying close may be different to what their grand
parents think. Their whole lives are online... they chat with
friends, share pics on fast moving platforms, listen to music, no
doubt google their homework, there's an app for this, an app for
that. Friending people is de rigeur not calling them. Prizing a
teenager today away from a smart phone is like having an arm chopped
off.
I read only last
week about 20 skills that are going to the wayside. Knowing how to
transfer money from one bank to another online is more important than
reading a map. The ability to use a sat nav more important than
learning to knit from your nan. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2015/08/is-map-reading-a-forgotten-skill/
This year one
of the best presents I received for my birthday was a compass. I love reading maps any
day over listening to the sound of the sat nav, I want to be
observant during my road trips in France, I want to be able to know
at any time which direction I am heading in. I still crack walnuts with
a stone, it's very therapeutic. Although I have since found that this is quite a tedious
and lengthy process, so walnut crackers will be on my wish list this
Christmas.
Living across the
Channel, Facebook has many benefits, it means I can keep up to speed
with what is happening in the lives of friends and family. A direct message via Facebook takes just a few minutes compared to picking up the phone and having
a good yarn for half hour or so. My husbands mother lives in Canada
in the middle of nowhere. There are times when it is sorely wished
that she would join the 21st century and there are times
when you actually think there's the phone, pick it up and talk.
The sharing of this
blog posts means that I will be blowing the dust off from my address
book and getting out lined paper and envelopes and licking the backs
of stamps and sending some letters par avion! I think my handwriting
may leave a lot to be desired.
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