Technologies ruining Social Livelihoods?

Good evening from a chilly Newcastle,

Found two very contrasting articles again exploring a new dimension of Web 2.0 technologies, tonight I am left to pontificate if they are actually merely just ruining our Social Livelihoods‘?! There’s a thought for you at six thirty on a Wed evening right?!

The first article, an ‘Agony Aunt’ style article from ‘BEST’ Magazine, where the ‘Agony Aunt’ in this circumstance is ‘Aunty Lorraine’, the Morning TV presenter. The reader in this occasion is expressing her exasperation to Twitter having a huge negative effect on her personal life. She says the site has caused unhappiness’ to other family members as a result of her husband being ‘so obsessed with Twitter’.
I actually discussed this with my own mother to seek the take of a trained nutritionist and family counsellor. She expressed the importance of having set, social, family meal times for example, to ensure creating a happy, secure family unit. She, like Lorraine, are adamant people need to ‘put down their phones and communicate with each other, like real live humans’. Got to admit to secretly checking Facebook Newsfeed under the dinner table a few times though!

Interestingly, in the same magazine merely a few pages later the headline ’The Dark side of Facebook’ grabs my attention. When I read on further I learn from ’Annabelle Lee’ how the social networking sites success has been tainted by links to ’murder, bullying and sex abuse’. Again, are these sites actually just destroying the nations livelihoods? As already highlighted, with the increase of ease and accessibility of social networking, people are communicating physically face to face less resulting in disastrous effects ranging from marital strain to ‘…..murder, bullying and sex abuse’, ultimately some of life’s darkest atrocities agreed?
Understandably however, I am sure the likes of O’Reilly, Ullrich, and Hamilton most definitely did not foresee how much their creations may, years down the line be possibly causing such destruction and negativity on the social livelihoods’ of the human race come 2011. As for Gruber, Face book , ‘…..Self serving problem solving on the internet, really?!’

Ref:

BEST Magasine, Issue 06/11, 15th Feb 2011