What is social networking doing to our families?

My brother and I were coversing earlier this evening about social networking. Specifically, about how social networking is leading to the demise of our normal family and friend relationships. His point was that because of texting, email, Facebook, blogs, and the like, we spend more of our time and energy interacting with, in some cases, relative strangers than we do with our own spouses and kids.

True.

I am as guilty of computer abuse as anyone. And the advent of the iPad has made it even worse. At least our old laptop would take a few minutes to boot up, so you really had to want to check your email in order to sit through that. Now with my iPad, I push a button, type in my 4 character password, and the internet is there at my disposal. Plus, it is small and light, so I can carry it everywhere. And unlike my laptop, the battery actually lasts more than an hour, so I am not tied to the electric outlet.

I find myself online when eating with the kids, when conversing with my spouse, when watching TV, when (I hate to admit) using the bathroom. Lisa and I even have our own iPads, so we'll hunker down in bed for the night and turn on our respective personal electronic devices, and check our own separate email, Facebook, and Words with Friends games (we're not even playing each other!) before turning to our Kindle apps to read a few pages before falling asleep. We don't even talk to each other during this time.

Wow, is this what life is like in 2012?

Or, are these devices simply just our generation's way of doing the same thing people have been doing for hundreds of years? Yes, ignoring their loved ones! Don't tell me your parents didn't read their own books before bed, and watch tv from separate chairs (or even separate tv shows in different areas of the house). And their parents likely settled in for the evening each doing their own things. Grandpa was smoking a pipe on the porch while Grandma chrocheted in the parlor. Or whatever. (I don't have very vivid memories of my grandparents.)

And I don't recall too many family dinners when I was growing up that had conversations involving anything other than "finish your peas or I'll get the wooden spoon." Is that any better than what we're doing now?

Is it engrained in us to yearn for connections that extand beyond one's walls? I remember my parents would sometimes be on the phone for HOURS. I hardly ever talk on the phone. Of course I make up for it on other ways. It's just that times are different, but human nature remains the same.

Ben (my brother) told me he thinks we should implement a media-free hour every night, so that we would connect with our spouse and kids without the tugs of the outer world. And I totally agree that it would be a great idea. But I also suspect that we would quickly find other ways to distance ourselves from our immediate family. I foresee many hours working in the garage, for instance.

So, is that just the way it is, or should I then embark on a new project to make our family actually want to spend time with each other? I'm sure there's a book on that out there somewhere. I'll go check out the Amazon website right now...