Skip to main content

Civilization's Decline



I just read this article I found on Twitter (read it here).  It's from the Harvard Business Blog and Mr. Tom Davenport's headline reads "Are Social Media Contributing to the Decline of Civilization?" He says yes...a part of me agreed with this article and continued reading.  


Mr. Davenport's main argument: a new celebrity gossip (read stalking) website called OMGICU.  He continues to say that our society has now become vapid and obsessed with celebrities and popularity and are using social media to feed this addiction.  While I agree that there are website like this (and yes the thought of them makes me shudder on the inside too) but this is not what social media is about.  


I do not follow Paris Hilton or Tila Tequila on my Twitter page (I'm not even friends with them on facebook) and I still use social media daily and love it.  On Twitter I exchange information and articles (currently they are predominantly about searching and finding a job) or I send messages to my friends who live in different cities.  


His arguments have absolutely nothing to do with social media as a whole.  Social media is about exchanging information, getting it in different ways, getting your information and your news at the same time, really, the way twitter works you choose what comes to you, so you can use it for whatever you want, and that's what the miracle of social media is you get what you want, how you want it all the time.  


If you want to talk about what's wrong with social media...I totally agree that there are problems with it.  I'm very concerned that social media and the internet are removing the interpersonal and face-to-face communications that are the truest forms of communications.  Allowing students to completely ignore face-to-face communication is going to ruin them and our society for the future.  How can you do well in a job interview if you have no face-to-face communication skills?  How can you work with other people if the only form of communication you can handle if via email...the person who sits next to you in the office is NOT going to email you when you're sitting right next to them.  Not to mention phone skills, even simple office assistant positions require the ability to talk to a real person in real time on the telephone with VERBAL words....not just typing.  


THAT will be the decline of civilization, you computer will crash and you will have absolutely no way to hold a conversation with someone because you will have never talked to someone face-to-face...that will be the moment that we will count civilization as lost.  


As for the obsession with celebrities.  I firmly believe that while it is vapid and shallow to be obsessed with people who are rich and famous I do not think that it will cause the end of our civilization.  Why are Anthony and Cleopatra known the world-over?  Because people of the time wanted to know what was happening in their lives and they were considered so important that their lives were to be recorded.  That was thousands of years ago and civilization still exists and still obsesses about royalty.  If the Egyptians, who are believed to be one of the most advanced civilizations ever to walk this earth, I'm sure that our civilization can survive despite some people's shallow obsession with whether or not Angelina Jolie is going to adopt another child from an impoverished country. 






Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Your Blog: Resume Boost or Liability?

I have recently read two different blogs that have both touched on the same topic. How your blog affects your resume and/or job search. The first was an interview with Sasha Halima, one of my favorite bloggers, at PR Breakfast Club. You can read it here. The second is on Brand Yourself, Your Blog is Your Extended Resume . Brand Yourself argues just what the title says that a blog is an extended resume and that when a potential employer searches for you and finds a blog full of fabulous content, they'll hire you. And while I couldn't agree more that I AGONIZED over the fact that potential employers were most likely Googling me and getting results for some person in Seattle or a Blues Singer in New York the interview with Sasha Halima said something that also struck a chord with me. Your blog can be a "liability." That is the scariest word that any potential employer could ever say because, if you're a liability to them, odds are other potential employers

Shoes

Shoes Shania Twain Tell me about it... Ooh! Men. Have you ever tried to figure them out? Huh, me too, but I ain't got no clue How 'bout you? Men are like shoes Made to confuse Yeah, there's so many of 'em I don't know which ones to choose (yeah, yeah, yeah) Ah, sing it to me If you agree There's the kind made for runnin' The sneakers and the low down heels The kind that will keep you on your toes And every girl knows how that feels (yeah, yeah, yeah) Ouch, ah, sing it with me Chorus: You've got your kickers and your ropers Your everyday loafers, some that you can never find You've got your slippers and your zippers Your grabbers and your grippers Man, don't ya hate that kind? Some you wear in, some you wear out Some you wanna leave behind Sometimes you hate 'em And sometimes you love 'em I guess it all depends on which way you rub 'em But a girl can never have too many of 'em It's amazing what a little polish will do... Men ar

Julie & Julia

Today Megan (my cousin) took me to Julie & Julia (we got in free because she works there). It was a really good movie, which made me happy because I had heard some people hadn't liked it and thought it was a slow movie, but I loved it. If you haven't seen the movie the basic premise is that Julie (Powell, the author of the book the movie is based from) works her way through Julia (Childs, the world renowned cook) cookbook. She gives herself 365 days and there were 540-ish recipes in the cookbook. She then wrote a blog about it, which became really famous, she was offered book deals, etc. But the point of the movie was that she decided to do something, gave herself a deadline, accomplished it, and it changed her life. So, when I came home I was 1. Hungry (I can't watch food and not want to eat...its the reason I can't watch the food network) 2. Inspired...I decided to cook something...experimentally too. I made soup that I used canned chicken noodle soup and s