Choice Reading #10

Summary: Non-traditional communication is changing the way we interact.

I am a follower of a literary blog on Tumblr. When I came across an exert they posted from this article, I was immediately drawn to what the article was saying. It also reminded me of the first AOWs we did relating to Facebook.

Previously, I would consider myself to be one of those people whose main communication style was texting and Facebook Chat. Fortunately, I have realized that although my relationships online were being genuinely being developed, those relationships were inauthentic. In high school (and sometimes in college), this type of communications happens all the time! For example, I found that if I texted someone who lived at a distance and got close with them via texting and the Internet, the relationship we had before the summer remained the same after we returned to school, yet the online relationship continued to happen. It's an odd phenomenon.

In schools, teachers should make sure they talk with their students about this type of communication. They should foster healthy communication and relationships inside of the classroom because school may be the only social interaction students get before they go back to their homes and run to the computer/phone all night. Students should never feel like "no one is listening", which is what the article says they're saying.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?_r=1&ref=opinion