[NemesisClaws]

Personally, I love Facebook because I keep in touch with my various friends and family all over the U.S. Plus, the emails/texts have been invaluable for me since I'm deaf.

That being said, some folks are taking it way too far with letting it rule their lives.

[Ambrosia]

I'm 30 and cannot stand a lot of the current technology. Can't go out with my family or see a movie with them without them being glued to their cellphones (they're on Facebook of course!). I'm tried of seeing students checking out their FB pages in the middle of a lecture.

It's infected the dating scene too. Most guys (in my experience) refuse to call so they text instead. I don't mind a text here or there but I refuse to have a conversation via text. I had one guy call me selfish since I told him to call me than have every conversation via text.

Honestly I feel like this trend has done more harm than good. I see too many racist, sexist, homophobic, bullying etc posts on Youtube and other social media. It's easier to be an idiot when you can hide behind technology.

[Palestrina]

It's easy to get carried away and overwhelmed with technology. I choose to use technology as much as I can, but I do set my limits purposefully. Ghandi once said "Be the change you want to see..." You can't be annoyed with other people or let them impact you. You can't change how others use technology, you can only change yourself. So I've put in place some real technology limits and I hope to be adding more in the future:

1. Facebook is limited. I check it every day, once in the morning. I set my privacy settings very high. I only post once or twice a month and it better be good. I have to use it because it's part of my job, but I don't need to be on it every moment of the day.

2. Cell phones are for day time use only. Once dinner time hits I have it set to turn off automatically every day. No calls/text/emails once it turns off.

3. Technology in public - When I sit down with a friend for coffee or a meal I turn my phone on vibrate (for emergencies only) and leave it in my purse. Sometimes people sit down and they put their phone right on the table and that's a sure signal that they intend to attend to their phone rather than our conversation. Very rude.

4. Texting - only if necessary. My texts are like "on my way" or "meet you at the corner of..." there are no conversations taking place. When I was dating I did not ever have conversations over text. I ignored those, if he wanted to talk to me he called.

5. Unplugging - there are certain days of the week that I unplug completely. I know other people who do this as well. I can only do it for one day but I'd like to work up to doing it a full weekend, every weekend. It's hard but I know it can be done. Unplugged means no email, no facebook, no texting, no phone calls, no computer!

6. Television - is off during dinner time.

7. Making time for real people on real time is absolutely necessary.

[Palestrina]

Originally Posted by novangel

I'm not overly needy; believe me I love alone time and space but I like some human interaction.

I used to be very social and a phone talker almost nightly with friends. Since this whole FB craze took over I almost NEVER hear from anyone anymore. If you want to get a hold of someone you almost have to go through FB, email or text. God forbid you call...9x out of 10 there will be no answer. When we do get together everyone is glued to their cell phones or busy scrolling through 100 pictures to show you. When I do get on the phone with someone you can hear them "clicking" their keyboards in the background or you can tell they're distracted. I loathe this. I miss my friends!

If you're from the 70's-80's era don't you find this depressing as h*ll?

I think technology is wonderful in many ways but people are becoming way too introverted. It's getting lonely. Even my BF is glued to his computer but he's working on recording/writing an album so I give him a pass. He's not just tooling around on the net...but still.

It's like I have to start going to bingo night at the senior center to get any real interaction. Everyone 50 and under is on the internet.

What gives? Will this ever end? I keep hoping the novelty will wear off..

It will never end in the world, but it can be limited. If you can start unplugging for a while it will make you feel more refreshed. Also, you can plan activities where technology is not welcome like hiking trips, park picnics etc. Make it a statement in the invitation "unplug from technology" or something like that. It does take some effort but it can be done. If there is someone in particular that you miss having face-to-face conversations with tell them so! Open the conversation. Make a tech-free gathering.