subject: Wireless Internet Keeps Families Closer [print this page] There are many cranks out there who would have you believe that the rise of wireless Internet has degraded all human interaction. They think that the kids these days have given up reading fine literature and learning to spell for skimming celebrity gossip blogs and scribbling incoherent Internet shorthand on their BFFs Facebook walls (thats Best Friend Forever for the uninformed). They wine that the emergence of 4G phones and Blackberries means that working men and women never truly leave the office, checking their work email while on vacation and being interrupted in the middle of the night by the electronic vibrations from the bedside table that tell them they have received some marginally important correspondence from a coworker. But for all of the fear mongering and complaining about the evolution of human relationships in the age of wireless Internet, some personal interactions have undoubtedly been enhanced by these new technologies. One such area is a persons family life.
Americans have always been a mobile people most of your ancestors probably trekked thousands of miles in poverty to an unknown content for an opportunity to gain a better life. Now, with efficient and affordable transportation technology, the usefulness of the English language around the world, and high incomes, Americans are able to hop around from place to place like never before. The reasons are varied you might move around the country to attend school, to follow a significant other, or in pursuit of a job. Or maybe you are simply interested in experiencing a new city. You may move across the world for any or all of these reasons as well. Not so long ago, a sister or a friend going to Brazil for 6 months usually meant at best a few dusty letters arriving months from when they were mailed in the post. But now, you can look forward to almost expect nearly daily updates. You can access this long-distance loved one via email, 4G cell phones, social networking sites, and video messaging services like Skype. You can instant message your best friend who got transferred to Japan from your apartment in Boston. You can respond to a Tweet from your cousin who is on the Mexican border on a volunteer trip. When you go backpacking through Europe one summer, you can keep a blog so that everyone who cares to know what you are up to can find out on their own, without even contacting you!
Not only can you share written information with family across long distances, but you can share photographs as well. This is useful even for people across shorter distances. Perhaps you are living in St. Louis, but your brother is living in Seattle. You maybe see each other twice a year, but that is hardly satisfactory, especially when you have young children who seem to change on a weekly basis. You want to see regular photos of your little nieces and nephews, and he wants to see pictures of his. Now, with a multitude of social networking and photo sharing sites, youll be able to see each others pictures seconds after they are uploaded from a camera.
