Is Our Generation Too Reliant on the Web?

I remember it very very clearly. It was January 8th of 2006 and I was staring at my cell phone. A text had just arrived from the girl I had been dating for about seven months telling me flat out that it was over. It was heartfelt perhaps and even bittersweet to me, however it lacked the effort that calling and telling me it was over would’ve had. This is becoming more and more recurring in my generation’s interactions as well. People plan dates over Myspace and have deep conversations on AOL’s instant messaging service. I suppose the safety of anonymity is something to behold.

I have a great example off the top of my head. The girl I just got finished seeing a little over a month ago would schedule dates over Myspace bulletins, she would have bonding talks over AIM as I have described and she would never answer her five hundred dollar Motorola RAZR when called. After a while I just started asking myself: What the hell is up with this? This lead to of course distancing between the two of us, because I’d much rather hear the inflection of her voice when we’re talking about something rather serious than have that misplaced “lol” or “omg” when I’m sending a message across. Don’t get me wrong, I think that AIM is a fine way to communicate with people that you cannot afford to talk to on the phone. Those very special individuals that are so far away that you would absolutely kill your phone bill with long distance charges can cope with the cold lifeless interface of a chat window. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Then of course there’s Myspace. I can’t think of anyone in my state that doesn’t have a Myspace. I’m pretty sure even my dogs have Myspace profiles expounding their likes and dislikes along with any fine female dogs they may have run across. I don’t even think I’d be in their Top 8 or 10 or 24 or whatever. I have had relationships broken over the girl I’m seeing not being the number one on my Top 8, because god forbid she wants all the people that view my profile to know that we’re dating or perhaps that I’m obliged to her. Granted the girl I’m dating now is number one, but she rocks beyond belief and honestly deserves it.

I have buddies that date strictly through Myspace. They’ll scour messageboards and find girls that are unbelievably hot or have misleading pictures and message them. Taking all the awkward social ramifications of trying to pull a woman in real-life. I don’t know how sentimentalities are working these days, but this just seems crazy. Girls I’ve hooked up with on Myspace are either crazy or look nothing like their picture or both. It’s usually both. I’m fairly timid when it comes to more intimate relations, and I absolutely fear seeing that latex corset and riding crop come out when I thought there was only going to be a little heavy petting above all other things.

Society changes a little with each generation. The 1960’s had counterculture music and gave birth to musicians that are literally revered in musical circles today. The 1970’s had disco and decadence, the 1980’s quickly brought in new wave and even more decadence. Now in the new millennium, we have musicians wearing tight pants and mascara and that’s just the guys. We have social networking sites and instant communication. We have all these wonderful things and no flying cars or really futuristic items. I suppose that’s just the way society flows though, losing more and more of that social interaction. I’ll check my Myspace later and see if bulletins need a little expose as well.