Is Technology destroying communication among family?



It used to be our grandparents and parents would socialize with their neighbors as they sat on the front porch. Everyone knew the names of their neighbor and how many children they had, etc. With the advent of radio, family and friends began congregating nightly to hear the live plays and live broadcast of baseball games.



Television soon arrived and families began staying indoors to watch the boob tube. The front porch was barren and as TV’s became a commodity, many homes had a television in each room. Family members could view their favorite shows individually or, watch the same show from the comfort and privacy of their rooms. Why gather with family members, when you could enjoy it in silence?



Now, we have the ubiquity of computers connected to the Internet. Family members IM/email other members, sometimes within the same household. Rather than pick up the phone and tell friends/family about the minutiae of our life, we blog and publish it for the masses. It’s less taxing than playing phone tag or making more than one phone call.



So is technology encouraging communication among family or destroying it?