Social applications are anti-social

Lee mentioned how teachers can now use Facebook to stay in touch with students. I’m sort of torn on this idea, and I may be a little hypocritical in explaining why.

First of all, people (including myself) spend too much time on the computer. Pushing it even further by having teachers recommend their students use Facebook might not be a good thing. In Lee’s post, the part that struck me was…

If my high school teachers would have been willing to work with me through Facebook, I know I would have done better. There were so many times I wanted to ask questions and clarify assignments, but there was no way I was going to do it front of the whole class…

Now, everyone has been in that situation, but it’s bothersome to think of avoiding human interaction with the teacher as being a solution. It seems like that would harm social skills and the developing personalities of young minds. While I’m sure everyone has neglected a question due to fear of how other students might react, a habitual “always ask online” method may prove to be even worse.

And here’s where I flip the switch on this thought. I’m the first person to ask, “Why can’t this be online?” And I’m next to the first person who would rather send an email or text over going to office hours or using the phone. BUT. I don’t always see that as a good thing, I just think it’s how I’ve grown. And maybe that’s the problem. Social applications and other means to neglect human interaction weren’t inflicted upon me, and I ended up wanting the “online version” anyway. With high school students spending 3-6 hours on MySpace as it is, promoting even more of this stuff just may be a little too much.

I wonder if getting involved with all of these “social” applications can actually turn a person somewhat anti-social in the real world. Who knows, maybe we’re nearing a point where we have to decide which is more important.