Thinking that your high school reunion will be worth your time must be a notion that not a lot of people buy in to. Recently, the West Catholic High School class of 2004 celebrated its 5 year reunion. And sadly enough, only 30% of my 180 classmates were in attendance.
The anticipation amongst me and my close friends to talk with people we haven’t seen since high school was building nearly a month before the reunion was set to take place. Rumors that ranged from someone winning the lottery and another person who expatriated to China were at the tip of the gossip iceberg.
The rumors were later found to just be myths and the popular kids still acted like they were popular, but the night had turned out to be a great success. Starting out on the west side of town and caravanning to the downtown bars by the end of the night, we had made the most of our reunion and for one night recaptured what it was like to be 18; not worrying about jobs, school, or the real world.
However, the 70% that chose not to attend-as I later discovered- decided that karaoke, happy hour, and concerts were more important than reconnecting with friends who shared (what some call) the best four years of your life with. Of course, not everyone had the best four years of their life in high school-just as every school has its share of bullies, there is an equal amount of ‘losers’- but I have to imagine that 5 years is plenty of time to put the past behind you.
Which brings me to my next point, how can we put the past behind us if we are constantly connected to those people via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter?
CEO Mark Zuckerburg said he created Facebook because he realized that people being able to share and obtain the information they want makes for a better world. Of course it is a better world. Our class reunion likely would have garnered less than 30% attendance if it weren’t for the fact that our class President sent out event invitations to just about everyone in our graduating class.
But the fact that I can look up my grade school classmates latest status updates and see where they work, where they go to school, and if they are engaged, seems to diminish not only the role of class reunions, but daily social interactions as well.
The word postmodern is often thrown around during these types of topics, and it is suitable here as well. Scholars of the postmodern society often cite the decline of civic engagement, the rise of anti socialism, and our dependence on technology as indicators of a society that is in peril.
However, it could be said that these connections enable us to become even closer. With Twitter, followers can see what just about anyone is doing or saying and with Facebook, we can stay connected to those who we haven’t seen in a long time.
Nevertheless, when I walked into my high school reunion, it felt like I had known everything about everybody. A chat room would have sufficed; it probably would have gotten more people to participate as well. Asking my Facebook “friends” what they had been up to seemed meaningless. Conversations ran dry and thinking of new topics to discuss really put my conversation skills to the test.
To succeed in changing society’s technological reliance, Generation Y needs to understand the importance of balancing both of these intricate social dilemmas and not tip the scale too much on either side. Otherwise, what is the point of going to my 10 year reunion?
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