Mobile Socializing
Pic taken by Blackberry
Experts say the act of socializing is essential to our overall health and could make us live longer and better.
It Makes Us:
-Keep Active
-Go out and enjoy life
- Improve our brain health
Now, I assume that no one else knows the importance of socializing like our 5 friends above who were incessantly typing away on their blackberries 
and iphones 
at Iguana in Midtown while being waited on. Instead of verbally communicating to each other directly, it was more entertaining to read each others thoughts on their phones while rambunctiously immersing themselves in haughty laughs over mere simplicity. But were our friends just working on improving their brain health by socializing, but not with each other?
A curious air filled both the restaurant and cyberspace as “mutual friends” questioned the abnormal behavior and waiters looked on with perplexed expressions. The waiters were good sports but were scared to approach the party of 5 because they thought they would only order through the mobile medium.
Some phenomenon had strictly occupied the amigos thus distracting themselves from each other. So who was it? Who could it be? What was so important that these 5 individuals who have been friends since college couldn’t cease to indulge themselves in the 3rd screen? If the phrase “mutual friends “ didn’t give it away then it is the one and only Facebook!
These days we are so obsessed with Facebook that we take it everywhere we go thanks to smartphones like the iphone and Blackberry. There is no doubt that Facebook has become a part of our lives but spirals out of control when friends refrain from talking to each other in person but instead do so through status updates. Yes, it was all in good fun but only Facebook can foster such an experience that one will be mad NOT to blog about it!
Just like the mobile, it is intimate. Through our photos, videos and status messages, we are defined in the digital world.
“In the eyes of the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, humans exist first then they are identified through their essence. I say today we are defined by our Facebook status.”
First off, let me state that it was a great night. No regrets all around. Secondly, I am a part of the “problem”.
Moving to the future. Will mobile socializing truly improve our brain health or any other element of our well-being? In this context, no. We’ve become so accustomed to our digital connection that we are: uncomfortable with silence; challenged to stretch the bounds of face-to-face discourse; frightened by the thought of being (dare I say it) disconnected. As a result, I believe we are losing sight of the value of social mobilizing and, instead, looking to Facebook, Twitter, etc. as an escape. It’s the ultimate release valve. Pause in conversation? Check your e-mail. Nothing interesting to add to a discussion? Respond to a text. Unable to resolve a debate? Fire up your phone’s browser.
In regards to the event discussed in Carlton’s blog, mobile socializing was actually a lever for humor at the dinner table. The comedy was half “laughing at our mutual friends” and half “laughing at ourselves”. Does that reasoning make it OK, or any other use of mobile socializing OK? I suppose that depends on your personal needs. Do I really need to use Facebook, Gmail, etc. while I am meeting with someone face-to-face?
This is an ironic situation. Let’s suppose Carlton sends me a text right now. Maybe the text is based in simplicity (“Yo we’ve gotta make another sock puppets video”) or maybe it’s something more profound (“Hey did you see that Fast Company article about mobile socializing?”). Nearly 100% of the time, I’ll respond to his text within 24 hours. In most cases, we’ll start holding a “conversation” via BlackBerry Messenger, regardless of who’s around or what’s happening. Now let’s say Carlton wants to meet up to play ball and hang out. It probably won’t happen for a few days. For some people, it takes weeks to schedule time with them. Once we meet – low and behold, our minds are detached. This doesn’t always happen, but given the circumstances and what it takes to get truly connected these days, should it happen at all?
A few months ago, I asked/challenged a friend to join me in the city for a No Cell Phones Night. Very basic concept: we pick a time and place to meet, let everyone know, then shut off the phones for the night. Not only does this agreement require reliability, but it also necessitates a full mental and physical connection with the people and environment. Needless to say, she was dumbstruck with this idea and said no. Why? Because her parents might try to call her in the event of an emergency. Think to yourself – is this truly the reason why you cannot turn your phone off or turn your attention away from your phone when it is ringing or vibrating, irrespective of the company around you?
Damn, I have to cut this post short…my mom is trapped in an elevator with Darth Vader and Agent Smith and I have to go save her life.