Marc talks about Vanishing Neighbors!!

 I really connected with this topic because it is one I find fascinating. I agree with a lot of Marc Dunkelman's arguments. He talks about connecting online and the effect this has on the middle ring of people in our life, people like neighbors. When he was making his case, I immediately thought of my neighbors. I have no trouble waving at the family from Congo across the street as I pull into the garage but when it comes to walking to my car while Mr. Meyer is working in his yard, I get slightly anxious at the warring thoughts of "Do I make eye contact and offer a hello? Start a mini conversation? Or do I avoid eye-contact and make a beeline for the car?" The conversation in my head sounds absurd, I know, but is present nonetheless. 

   However, I also agreed with one of Zeynep Tufekci's arguments. I love face-to-face interaction with my peers. I thrive on social activities, declaring myself an extrovert. If, for any given reason, I am not socializing in person with people, I love utilizing text messaging to reach out to those people I do, in fact, wish I was interacting with face-to-face.

I could not come to a definite conclusion about my stance on the issue. On the one hand, I am envious of the days when life was more simple because of the lack of technology. On the other hand, who doesn't love to log on to Facebook and see the red notifications in the top right corner of the screen, notifying the user that someone wants to be their friend? But wait, I don't want to see how far ahead in life all my high school peers are, do I? Katie just got married. Lennie has a kid. Oh look, Rachel went to the Bahamas over the summer. Where was I? Salt Lake City. So are sites like Facebook or even Instagram really promoting the good feelings and connection we never knew we needed? Perhaps we really don't need it. 

I think the biggest point I identified with was the point Susan Pinker made. She was responding to a point a caller had made. She referenced his claim of playing board games on Sunday for most of his life. She said that when interact like that, sitting down and playing board games with a group of people and we engage in actions like fist bumping or high fives, a chemical called oxytocin vasopressin is released. This chemical effects how we fight infection and/or deal with stress. Well wow. If that isn't a case for face-to-face interaction, I don't know what is. I can totally see this. Ask my sister, whenever I leave a social event, I feel like I am coming off of a high. Obviously a social high. Any stress that I may have felt prior seems to have dissipated. 

Both sides had thought-provoking arguments. If we were asked to choose sides though, I would align with Susan and Marc. Let's release that oxytocin vasopressin!!