Be Who You Be, Even When Nobody Can See

(Right off the bat…excuse the grammar usage in the title – trying to make a point.)

I have to admit that I love the age we live in right now. I mean from a technology and access to information standpoint.

By self-declaration, I am a proud and unabashed maven of gadgets, whiz bang toys and oh, I can’t forget about cell phones…I l-o-o-v-v-e new cell phones. To put it bluntly, I am a techno geek.

I got to thinking the other day about this whole “social” media phenomenon and how people have become so engulfed in communicating this way, anonymously, without actual human contact, seemingly without restrictions or boundaries.

Earlier this year, a study came out (http://bit.ly/5uV2) declaring people visited Facebook, the most popular “social” media site nearly 1.2 billion a month, MySpace more than 810-million times a month and Twitter more than half a billion times during a typical 30-day period. That’s a lot of visits and a lot of time behind a computer screen for a lot of people.

Hug it Out…

An article appeared in the New York Times in recently, taking an interesting angle on the whole Swine Flu (H1N1) thing. Undoubtedly, the second coming of the virus (the first being in the Spring of this year) is being anticipated and feared by the general population and people have begun to prepare themselves and for many, there is an intense look at how we do everything we do.

Following the advice our mothers told us when we were young, healthcare experts are saying, over and over that following basic hygiene, cough etiquette, hand washing and staying home if you are sick are the best ways to avoid the onslaught (unless you have a weakened immune system). But, what about how we all greet one another and show general affection towards those we meet or come in contact with on a regular basis?