As I have expressed in previous posts, I am grateful to be a member of the Boomer Generation, which came of age during the Civil Rights Movement, Anti-War protests and the rise of Environmentalism. My generation was also fortunate to have predated the scourge of Social Media.
Nevertheless, we did miss out on the benefits of digital communication. Over the few decades that followed our high school and college years, we relied on occasional phone calls and annual Holiday cards to stay in touch with one another. Unlike our children, who have used email to maintain communication with most of their friends, we have lost touch with the majority of ours.
I personally believe that life-long friendships are important (see: Valuing the Past) and access to email would have significantly improved that effort. As I found out during a brief trial, social media is certainly not the answer.
See also: Old Friends
