I WAS sitting on the bus the other day and I couldn't help but overhear an interesting (as interesting as it can get on a bus!) conversation between two young guys.
They were talking about an online discussion they had with a few other friends and they were gossiping, yes saucily gossiping, about one of their mate's spelling and ``uncool'' internet vocabulary.
For no other reason than sheer boredom that is implicit when one travels by public transport, I started working on my own little theory about online communication and our generation let's call it generation Y.
Apparently most opinions on Gen Y are negative because of the online addictions we seem to consume us. Everyone is on the internet or PlayStation, working on World of Warcraft, MySpace or Facebook.
There has been no other generation in history that has been as technologically advanced (that's a no-brainer), no other has been as professionally successful, none as educated, none as rich, none as fast-paced, cutthroat and efficient. Cool, right?
Well, according to these same generalisations no other generation will be as selfish, as ignorant of global issues or as bad at parenting as this one.
Now this might be a whole bucket-load of assumptions to be making based on a minor conversation between strangers on the 391 bus, but I think I can make a plausible argument.
Everyone that I know has a Facebook and a MySpace site.
Considering I refused to have an email address until I was forced onto one in my first year of university speaks volumes about how adverse I am to online communication.
I thought it was a joke. MSN? How boring!
That's not the case anymore. I have more MySpace friends than I care to admit and I have recently created a Facebook account for all those too-cool-for-school professional friends that refuse the ``kitsch'' of MySpace.
It all seems like fun and games and an easy way to procrastinate. But I once had a MySpace friend that I would see at the gym and never say hello to my face, but would leave me ``I saw you'' comments on MySpace.
It freaked me out. What struck me was that someone could appear to be so close within the confines of cyberspace yet be so far away when it comes to physical communication.
I admit it's easier to drop an email or write a comment or post a bulletin, far easier than driving to see someone. But what implications does this have for our communication skills and our ability to function within a physical community like Camden? Where does our personality stop and our online personality begin?
Let's hope Gen Y doesn't forget what's really important in society and what has led us this far in history.