A short while back, the VFTB asked the question, Technology: Friend or Foe? This narrative is spins off that one.

Over the past ten plus years, means of communication have hugely changed via mobile devices and the creation of e mail, texting, Facebook, Face Time, Skype, Zoom, Instagram, and whatever else is out there that I can’t figure out. We’ve seen people constantly with phone in hand or walking down the street looking like they’re talking to themselves as they’re wearing earbuds and using phones with wireless microphones. We’ve seen the most popular body parts being exercised most in today’s world, being thumbs, as they seem to get almost non-stop workouts as people take to texting and tweeting over good-old phone conversation, or even better, good-old sit down, face to face, eye contact, dialogue with each other.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been sucked into the world of instant communication, as I’ve, begrudgingly at times, learned how to e mail, text, Facebook, Skype, and Zoom, trying to keep up with this fast-paced changing world of communication. I’ve also learned to Google, You Tube, and Worldwide Web, all these new and ever-expanding means of instant ways of communicating, shopping, DIY How-to video instruction, share family pictures and photos of interest, find items for cars, appliances, home dÈcor, home improvement, entertainment, dining, almost anything any of us finds interesting, informative, and of course, quick and easy.

It’s hard for some to imagine life without all these changes and instant everything, unless you’re from a generation that lived through times which included, face-to-face conversation, or landline phone conversation, console televisions, writing letters/Thank You cards, film photography, in-store shopping, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and theater movies and productions to name a few.

As good as some changes dealing with those things are, like many things, there have been people who’ve found ways to make them evil, to hurt people, to use them for their own agendas at the expense of others.

How many have been subject to never-ending spam/scam calls regarding car warranties, or being eligible for medical kits that don’t exist? How many have received e mails saying their accounts to whatever need to be updated and all they have to do is provide information to rectify it, having their identity stolen if they did? How many receive text messages or e mails regarding their bank accounts that, in reality, they don’t even have? How many have had their Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts, credit card accounts, financial information, personal information, hacked, and had credit cards maxed out, and/or bank accounts stolen?

Also, what about the way people have come to use Facebook? I got on Facebook to have easy contact with family and friends separated by distance. It’s a way to share what’s happening in our family, see what’s happening in the lives of my siblings, in-laws, children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, or hear about what’s happening with former students and athletes with whom I’ve worked. It’s a great way to stay in contact with former colleagues, officials, classmates, and fans of my favorite teams. It’s a way to let former students know I’m available if they need letters of reference, or over the phone reference calls, in pursuit of higher education or a job, profession, or their chosen career. (I never friend any student until they became seniors in high school, and only then for these purposes. After they graduated it’s been a wonderful way to see how their lives have shaped, with their own families and jobs.)

In a different light, all this ability to stay contact with all these people on Facebook, becomes tarnished when I see so many character assassinations on people who give time, effort, energy, dedication, and heart to other people in many arenas, only to become subjects of some narcissistic people who bash those who coach or officiate kids, or volunteer to work with others, then find themselves the subject of what could be comparable to being a notorious criminal, because their child didn’t make a team, or didn’t get most of the playing time, or the team lost more games than the person thought they should have lost. That also includes people who use their mobile devices to video plays in games that might show an official maybe missing a call in a game/match, along with cries for said coach/official to be fired from their jobs, the ones complainers wouldn’t step forward to do.

Facebook also has its share of browbeaters, bullies, belittlers, and bashers in political discussions, sports trash talking, on music fan pages, and judging or placing blame on people based on race, creed, ethnicity, religion, and/or sexual orientation or identity.

So, as good as technology and social media has been in making our lives more convenient, it’s brought a whole new series of ways to hurt others too, thus posing the question, Is it a blessing or a curse? You decide.