technology and social connection

So if you're super cool like me and spend a lot of time thinking about how crazy and convoluted our media world is getting, then you've probably heard of a guy named Henry Jenkins. If you haven't heard of him, then pinch yourself...you're still normal. (All pinching aside, I've reached the point where i have no choice but to embrace my inner geek.) One of the terms that Henry Jenkins coined, and the way I got interested in him originally, is "transmedia storytelling," but this is a topic for another day.

A topic that I'd like to mention briefly here, is what Jenkins calls "tele-cocooning." He mentions the example of Japanese youth who stay connected with wireless devices ALL THE TIME. In the academic article (everyone's favorite genre) Jenkins uses, the authors illustrate how students actually become closer to one another as a result of the technology, even though technology often seems more like a buffer between traditional face-to-face interaction. All of this to say: hey kids! tell your parents that text messages actually help you foster lasting relationships with your friends. If they scoff, print the stuffy article I've linked to, put it under their pillows, and write in small, humble letters: "this is just a little something I ran across the other day."