insta friend [08 Jan 2007|09:43pm] I may be guilty of some, all, or none of this behaviour.... The "iPod effect" on friendships Technology and the Internet help people get exactly what they want -- but you can't go online and order a real friend. "When you're sick, you don't want e-mails, you want someone to hold your hand, someone to say, 'Let me get this for you,'" said Bernardo J. Carducci, a psychology professor at Indiana University Southeast and director of the Shyness Research Institute. Americans are struggling more today with feelings of loneliness and a lack of good friends. Carducci said many Americans forget or are unaware that making friends takes time and skills -- conversation skills, negotiation skills and empathy. "A real problem with friendships today is that people demand instant intimacy," he said. "I call it the 'iPod effect.' You can get exactly what you want, when you want it. You can have your life on your terms. You can get people to deliver movies to your home. People deliver a pizza in a half hour. You can buy stuff and have them ship it to you overnight. You can go online and talk to people who have only your same interests. No more dissenting views. You just delete them -- 'electronic cleansing' your own world. The solution is getting out of your own world." ( hold me closely if your will allows it ) 27 comments|post comment

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