It's all relative

Like many people, I don't like to admit when I'm wrong. I dislike it even more when I learn I'm wrong about something I have been vehemently opposing for quite some time.

Such is the case with online social sites and electronic communication.

For months I have been lamenting the fate of communication as more and more I see people texting, sending messages through instant messaging and communicating via email. "Where are the phone calls, the face to face conversations?" I'd ask.

I even went as far as to write a story on the fast fade of communication, thinking I'd find experts who agreed with me that before long, we'd be standing face to face with our partner, cell phones in hand, texting our "I love you's."

I was wrong -- but that's just the start of the "wrong" I don't like.

I did find one person who agreed with me that yes, the art of communication is quickly becoming lost. I found three others, however, who believed that the fact that people are communicating -- regardless of the mode -- is still a good thing.

OK, I can see that. It truly is a good thing that people are communicating and that we're finding many different ways to do so. Rather than oppose modern technology, I should embrace it as just one more way to keep in touch. After all, where would we be if people like me opposed the telephone as "too impersonal" and were successful in its demise?

Still, I couldn't get past the loss of the spoken word, the nuances of conversation, the meaning that is conveyed in tone and lost in the written or typed word.

Then along comes Facebook. And MySpace. And Twitter.

And my "A-ha!" moment.

I've got a Facebook profile I use daily for posting notes, keeping up with friends and even playing games. Through the games, I've entered into some friendly rivalries with co-workers, some of whom I'd shared little more than a friendly greeting in the hallway.

Now we find ourselves laughing about the latest results of the game (right now I'm winning -- not that I'm competitive!!) and gradually breaking into conversation about our families or interests. We're laughing in the hallways, chatting in front of the sinks in the bathroom or (gasp!) sending emails across the room, chiding the other about the latest score.

I get it now. All this modern technology and various communication really is a good thing. I won't say that I give up because to give up is to admit defeat.

With more options for communication, I think we all win.