Social Interaction Podcast

Hello everyone and welcome to the first podcast episode of "Social Renaissance". Today's topic is social interaction and how social networks are not sufficient supplements for face-to-face interaction and communication. As a society, we have drifted so far from the old-fashioned ways of interacting with our neighbors, family and friends in person. Back then, people spoke to one another even if they didn't know them. Nowadays, people will accept a friend request from a complete stranger on Facebook before they would say hi to that same stranger on the street. Cities had more of a community feel but this is no longer the case because we've become lazy and have opted for virtual communities instead. Granted, in virtual communities, you can interact with people all over the world and that is a great feature. Some also believe it is safer to interact with people online rather than in person. This may be true to an extent but humans were not meant to be cooped up in houses all day looking at a computer screen. According to a trauma specialists website, it is not healthy mentally or physically.

Studies by Social Indicators Research have shown that interaction through social networking is not enough for our well-being as humans. A blogger references the study saying quote "The researchers guess this has something to do with the lack of non-verbal cues, lack of warmth, and the laziness of communication associated with Internet communication" end quote. It is often times hard to decipher a person's tone in written text and lets be honest, virtual hugs just don't make the cut.

Also, as stated in the article, "I Tweet, Therefore I am" people put on a performance on social networks. How do we weed or read through this performance to get to the truth? In the article "Don't Displace Face to Face" Jerry S. Wilson tells us, quote "Face-to-face interactions, on the other hand, allow all parties to discuss issues and identify, in real time, potential disagreements and alternative approaches to a situation. Additionally, people can read nonverbal cues to determine if there is real buy-in to an idea—or mere compliance...Ambiguity can be sorted out immediately, resulting in alignment of priorities and direction. None of this is so easy to do in digital space. " end quote.

We need to return to those old fashioned values and neighborly ways of life in which we trusted one another which meant times were safer. Jerry S. Wilson says, quote "Now, more than in many other years, Americans are being reminded of the power of "retro" values. These include honesty, integrity, credibility, transparency, thriftiness, caring for others, and trust. Face-to-face interactions lead to positive outcomes and better long-term relations than relying on the digital space exclusively." end quote.

Now I know it seems i have been bashing social networks but i propose that we actually use Facebook in particular as a model to return to traditional, face-to-face interaction. I've created an architecture project called "Reality Facebook: The InterFence". The Interfence is a physical infrastructural interface attached to every lawn in the city of Detroit and is equipped with physical features of Facebook. Bascially, it is your Facebook profile transformed into a non-traditional fence on your lawn. It would initiate conversation and create and interactive small town community feel though connections of common interest. Trust and other values mentioned by Mr. Wilson would reemerge creating a better person and city. Thus, quote"in remaking a city, man has remade himself"end quote.

This wraps up this episode of "Social Renaissance". Join us next time when we will be discussing Part 2 of this topic and a deeper analysis of The Interfence. Thanks for listening! Take care!