The times in which we live are drastically different from those that our parents and grandparents experienced. With hour-long commutes, picking the children from daycare, and rigorous school schedules, it’s a wonder that we have time to do anything. Typical American families of the 2000s may still be as tight-knit as those of the 1950s, but they are exponentially busier.
    How does one find the time to do anything anymore? Though times have certainly changed, the need for human interaction has not. Today we have other outlets to ensure communication with our dear friends and distant loved ones. No longer would one need to sit at a desk with pen and paper to write grandma a letter telling her of recent accomplishments in school; one must simply shoot her a quick email. One does not need to send out wedding invitations any longer—how passé; simply create an event on Facebook and surely all of one’s friends would R.S.V.P. We’re in a time of transformation in the world of communication, a time in which our social habits are changing dramatically.
    It could be argued that many people spend more time using computers to interact with others than they do conversing with them fact-to-face. There those that we speak to only in the digital world—doesn’t everyone have a person halfway across the country that they consider a close friend, a person they’ve never actually met?
    Though our group project was designed to be a creative way to tell a story in the digital age, it exploits the changing times of human interaction. We have developed a narrative that shows how people have used digital communication to somewhat replace “real” fact-to-face interaction.
    The project follows a trio of friends, all college students—Bryan, Staci, and James. Bryan and Staci are dating and James is a mutual friend. Bryan is a stereotypical sports fanatic/jock who is perhaps negligent in his relationship with Staci. Staci is an all-American girl who loves “girly” things and puts forth much effort in her relationship with Bryan. James is a loner—he spends his time thinking about Staci and tries to bring to light the mistreatment she’s experiencing from Bryan.

    Using the popular micro-blogging service, Twitter, the three friends communicate. They post tweets—short messages of 140 characters or less—about their moods, upcoming events, recent happenings, and of course, their love-interests. Though these topics are certainly things that we would want to communicate to our friends, we must ask ourselves if Twitter is the proper forum in which to discuss these points.

    Our story is somewhat typical in regards to how such services are used. Log onto Myspace, Facebook, or Twitter, and you will surely find a sea of personal information about people that you don’t know. The narrative that we’ve composed is somewhat satirical in that we expose relationships are both ended and created using Twitter as a primary means. Though this is somewhat over-the-top, one must wonder if it is atypical of communication today. There are those who have met their husbands or wives on Myspace, those who plan their weeks on Facebook, and—unfortunately—those who commit suicide on webcam.
    Communication in this century is completely new and unprecedented. One must ask if the new forms of communication should completely erase the tried and true. Have our social lives improved by being seated in front of our LCDs? Have we made more friends? Are we really more connected, or are we just people alone in our rooms, our offices, our dens—people still trying to connect with others, but people nonetheless lonely.

Click Here to see the story from Staci's Perspective
Click Here to see the story from James' Perspective
Click Here to see the story from Bryan's Perspective