One of the most notable technological and social changes that took place during the past decade was the ways in which we communicate.

TEXTING

The decade started with almost every adult in the nation owning a mobile phone, and people talked on them proudly – some even sporting new high tech ‘secret service’ish’ headsets to gloat in their new self-found importance.

But almost overnight, text messaging became THE way for young people (specifically) to communicate. No longer would you have to have obligatory small talk with someone when you wanted to tell them what time you would be home for dinner. Now you could simply type a short response and have it sent in no time and get back to playing that critically important video game without ever having to hear the sound of a human voice.

Texting has fundamentally changed the way we talk and type. Abbreviation has become the new grammatical norm; as we regularly use phrases such as, “LOL, WTH?, TTYL, BFF, and OMG” in order to spend even less valuable time actually communicating with someone.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

About midway through the decade a new behemoth of communication broke onto the global scene: Social Networking!

Almost immediately, two websites emerged as THE way to connect with friends old and new on the worldwide web: MySpace and Facebook. You no longer needed to actually communicate with your friends, now all you have to do is check their status updates to see what they’ve been up to. Wanting to meet your best friend’s new girlfriend, but don’t have the time? No worries, all you have to do is send them a friend request and check out a few pics and your good.

Facebook and MySpace make things like keeping up with long-lost high school friends, and annoying relatives, seamless and instantaneous.

Throw in Twitter to the mix, with its on-the-fly microblogging that simultaneously updates your Facebook status, and you have a system that in less than five years has revolutionized the way we connect and communicate with others. And there’s only room for this new medium to grow and evolve.

With all seriousness though, Texting and Social Networking can be used to keep in contact with more people, more often, in less time. My only fear is that, if we are not careful, real face to face intimate relationships will suffer and turn into mere virtual connections.

This is the 2nd in a series of 5 articles to be posted this week.

Part 1: Random Thoughts on the First Decade of the New Millennium: September 11th
Part 2: Random Thoughts on the First Decade of the New Millennium: Communication

Anthony Trask is blessed with an incredible wife and two awesome kids. He currently co-pastors Fellowship Church in NE Salem. You can listen to his weekly messages at www.fellowshipsalem.com or read his blog at www.anthonytrask.com.