E-mail. Text messages. MySpace and Facebook messages. IMs. Twitter. Thanks to all of these technological innovations, we can communicate with people without having to actually interact with them. We can “say” a thousand words without having to ever having to use our voices. That’s a funny thing when you stop to think about it.

It’s easy to get caught up in the flurry of technology that enables us to communicate quickly with others at our own convenience. You can send an e-mail at any hour of the day without disturbing someone like you might if you called them or dropped by their house unannounced. You can update your MySpace or Facebook status to tell people what’s going on in your life without speaking a single word to them. You can tweet your activities so people know all of the minutiae of your daily routine.

It makes me wonder, though, are we starting to erode our ability to substantively communicate beyond a 140-character tweet or a onesentence status update? It seems like I get fewer phone calls these days, but more texts. I can’t remember the last time I received an actual invitation in the mail instead of an Evite.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no technophobe. I text. I tweet. I social network. I just can’t help but wonder what effect these technologies are having on our relationships with other people. It’s kind of ironic when you stop to think about the fact that people are willing to pay extra money for text messaging services so they can communicate to their friends and family without actually having to talk to them. I’m planning to keep a tally this year of how many Christmas cards I get in the mail versus how many “Merry Christmas” texts I get. It might be an interesting social experiment.

- Sarah

Sarah is a 2003 graduate of the Sigma Gamma chapter at Kansas State University. She graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in public relations and advertising with a minor in leadership studies. Since graduating from college, Sarah has traveled for Kappa Delta as a chapter development consultant; served as editor of a weekly U.S. Air Force newspaper; and coordinated public relations activities for an advertising and PR agency specializing in higher education. She currently helps manage media relations for a company specializing in healthcare.