The Internet is the New Neighbor & the New Teacher

Rainie & Wellman’s (2012) explanation of the neighborhood and neighbors no longer carrying as much importance in people’s lives hit a topic that seems to be a recently reoccurring in discussions around me. A friend of mine posted an article on Facebook about how social media has led to a group of “indoor generation” kids that no longer go outside to play with the other neighborhood kids and instead play video games with kids in other cities, states and countries. Just last week, I had a discussion with a classmate about how no one knows their neighbors anymore. I do think that may be partly due to the internet now allowing us to exercise our social skills with others we may already know or meet. However, I also think that now that we can look up places to eat in the neighborhood, where the best markets are and how to get to the local park, people may not be relying on their neighbors for advice. Though neighbors do talk about more than just local hot spots, I do recall my mother often asking the neighbors where x was or y was when we would move to a new neighborhood. I do not think social media takes the full blame though because I do not think that people have replaced going to meet the new neighbors with anything else. It’s not like neighbors send you a welcome email (unless maybe moving into a development or country club area). They simply just do not come over and introduce themselves anymore. I think that everyone being so busy and working so much has a lot to do with it. When most people get home from work, they just want to go inside and relax and find entertainment and conversation at your fingertips. I also personally like to communicate via text more often than not. It allows me to respond when I feel like it and also gives me time to think about my responses more before “speaking”. I also agree with the authors that the internet as further enhanced and extended ties for many who know how to navigate the social media/internet world. As someone who has traveled a lot for work, school and pleasure, I have met a lot of people along the way. Some I have kept closer than others, but I have kept in contact with them all to some degree and this has only been made possible by social media. If I had to make a phone call, write an email or send a letter to all of them to keep in contact, I would not have time to do anything else. Even if I do not message them ever, even a like or comment under their photo keeps me in their memory and bridges the gap between when I last saw them and when I reach out for an ask, to catch up to say hello. I also think that in some way, social media has made people more understanding of not having regular communication. My friends and family do not have to call me regularly and do not become worried about me if they haven’t heard from me. If they see me post a picture on my Facebook account they have some level of understanding that I’m ok or what I’m up to. The mass reach of social media also makes it easier to make sure you don’t miss telling someone about a big event in your life. I was also recently having a conversation with a professor about how the internet has changed the way instructors (should) teach. Now that students have access to all of the answers, it is important that we teach them to think critically and to use their skills to investigate the source of the answers, why they might say what they do, what other “right” answers might be, etc. I also agreed with their comment that people want more information and they want it quickly. It’s hard to have a conversation without Googling something. I think this is a positive advancement as it gives us the ability to know more about more. On the other hand, it can also have negative impact as now we no longer have to think towards an answer or even remember anything if we can just look it up.