The power of electronic conversation, good or bad?

First it was e-mail, then it was mobile phones and texting and now it is Facebook and other social media. The trend to converse electronically is now more than ever, a huge part of peoples lives. When I first got an e-mail address, it was only because I was with a couple of friends who were signing up. So it was purely a convienence thing really. At that time (1989) I would have known three or four people with an e-mail address. There was no real pressure there, if you didn't check your e-mail for weeks there would be no repercussions. Not now though! Oh boy how things have changed. For the generation(s) who have been bought up with electronic messaging, it seems to be some sort of sin if for example you don't accept a friend request or play the same game of bloody bejewled thingymawhatist!

I have just read a blog titled 'no pressure blogging' and somewhat alarmingly this is what the author had to say:

But that being said…it’s really nice to not feel pressure to blog. Because quite frankly, my blog suffers when I do. Churning out posts just to have something posted every day doesn’t necessarily add to the value of a blog. Sometimes silence is golden. And quite frankly – sometimes I don’t even notice when some of my favorite bloggers take a day or two off.

Really! Well I don't feel guilty about not blogging every day... After all it's my life as Jon Bon used to say! Sadly it's not NOW OR NEVER, it's NOW NOW NOW NOW...  and if you aren't NOW you are yesterday! Stink. There is a new phenomena now with the rise of social media use, and that is electronic pressure. That's right. Even if you work, live or know people, see them every day, talk (yes a real conversation), laugh and or cry with these REAL people, you are also expected to be cyber friends. To allow all and sundry to see your private photo's, to read your comments (even if about the above people!) to somehow be a part of the greater cyber world. And for some unknown reason, the younger generations who live day to day through their computers seem the most put out if their 'friend requests' are not accepted! This is one thing. This HEY WHY DIDN"T YOU ACCEPT MY FRIEND REQUEST? sniffle... It's kind of like an extension of the screaming child who can't get the lollipop! WHYYYYYY WHAAAAAAA cry cry... What do you do? Buckle? Slap? Ignore? I just find it a bit annoying. I find it a bit of a joke, I find it a bit tiring... When someone corners you with the 'Why didn't you... friend request' blackmail. Because that's what it really is, emotional blackmail dressed in computer code. It's the same as the little screaming kid desperately trying to get the parent/ caregiver to buy them the treat. It's a quick fix. Instant gratification. And if it's not given? What happens? Well what happens in the computer world? NOTHING. It's not real! This is the end example of spending more and more time in some sort of cyber reality... A mixing of what is real and what is not, via the real (the spoken or written friend request) and what is not (the whole e-friend thing, facebook and online stuff). It is not real but it is new it is neo:

neo- pref. 1. New; recent: Neolithic. 2. a. New and different: neoimpressionism. b. New and abnormal: neoplasm. 3. New World: Neotropical.

NEW... That does not make it right though. The delivery is the new part, what lies behind the cyber pressure people unwittingly use everyday is not. It is as old as humanity, it is pure and simple part of our make up whether we like it or not. Understanding these interactions might make it easier to accept those friend request... Or for some, it might not. Try it, see what happens... Just ask WHY?