Group 3: Daniel Christie, Seyed-Reza Hasemi-Tari, Cora King, Jonah Nguyen, Courtney Wickerson

Introduction
As technology advances, our society is becoming increasingly dependent on these technologies, and because of this, society is becoming a “plugged in” society. As a result, interpersonal relationships are suffering, as people rely on technologies as entertainment and communication means rather that face-to-face interaction.

Social Networking
The development of the Internet has created an ever changing and evolving advancement in the flow of information. The Internet has progressed to a point where sites have been developed, where people can develop their “virtual self”. An aspect of this “virtual self” is created through the diverse and growing social networking websites. These social networking websites have become their own virtual communities and have started to integrate into every day society. They have become a vital part of college/university life, high schools, and even some office environments. The definition of a social networking site as described by Wikipedia is a service focused on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others." Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking)

One primary concern with these social networking sites is that “communicating with such technologies can create a relaxed feeling in a professional environment.”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service#Research_on_the_social_impact_of_social_i). This causes people to write messages as if they were speaking in real life; by doing this, the lack of interpersonal interaction, can cause misinterpretations of the message trying to be conveyed. This occurs because communication over these social networking sites cannot always convey the proper tone of the message trying to be conveyed. Another drawback with social networking sites is that they can provide a considerable amount of information about ones personal life to the outside world, if the individual signing up does not design their security measures for their profile. Having too much information wide open to the world can produce a danger to interpersonal relationships in all aspects of a person’s life including the companies the people work for, the schools they go to, and their own personal relationships. This danger occurs because expressing too much of ones opinions and experiences to the world can promote an inappropriate image to your family, peers and bosses. For instance, if a person is tagged in pictures from a drunken weekend being ridiculous, there is the potential that this may incriminate the individual, allowing the person to be judged by their family, peers and bosses. One more concern is that many people no longer know how to communicate properly in a professional setting because they lack development in interpersonal skills. Recently in the Calgary Herald there was an article about an individual who was fired “via Facebook”(http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=a627fa6e-8eca-4a84-8c82-45a693d4473d). This sparked much controversy over the effect these sites are having on society. The sites themselves have become their own working society where individuals are hired, and fired, meet, and break up, play games and interact and even trade and sell. Overall society has integrated this new era of a “plugged in” society to every day life, even incorporating social networking (Facebook) into Blackberries. Overall a question arises, if this way of communication is just a passing fad or one that will soon be integrated to reside within society?

Online Shopping


In 2007 Canadians spent $12.8 billion online, up 61% from 2005. 8.4 million Canadians made an online purchase. But all this began with one website. Online shopping all started with eBay, an American internet company founded in 1995 for online auction and shopping. EBay now has localized websites in over 30 countries. 25% of Canadians online purchases are made on eBay. However since the online purchasing phenomenon spread through clothing lines, food products, bookstores, concert tickets and travel services there are over 120, 000 online retailers. Out of all Canadians, Albertans are the worst, with over half of the population of Alberta purchasing something online.

The advantages of online shopping are obvious. No money spent on gas, no line ups, no crowds and you can do it in your pajamas at 3am. It can be especially useful during the craziness that is the Holiday season. During the 2004 holiday season Verisign, an American online retailer reported $8.8 Billion in online transactions. However there are disadvantages as well. Many customers express dissatisfaction with the return process and availability. And of course the every present fear of identity theft when you type your credit card number into the worldwide web. But the biggest disadvantage of online shopping is the loss of human contact in an already isolated society. There is no human interaction in online shopping, no one to give their input, or help you put outfits and holidays together. It’s just one more way in which we are isolated ourselves from the people around us.

Some people have found a happy medium though, with Stats Canada showing that 43% of Canadians use online retailers as a form of window shopping, using the sites to browse products before going into the actual stores, and of the shoppers who browsed online, 64% later went into the store. Even though you can purchase just about anything on the internet these days – from music and movies to ordering takeout and designer dresses – not everyone is succumbing to a world of hiding behind laptops.

The IPod
People of the new generation are becoming referred to as the “Mypod generation,” a combination between MySpace and the iPod. It appears that everywhere you go, everyone has ear phones plugged in blaring out their favorite tunes. As a result, these iPod-connected people are blocking out the outside world and simultaneously delivering the message that they do not want to talk to anyone. People are no longer interacting with each other but are rather choosing to enter into their own world void of personal relations. Studies have shown that teenagers use the iPod as a replacement for a companion causing their social abilities to decline. Recently, iPods have been banned from schools because they endorse isolation of the iPod user from others. IPod owners feel they escape from the havoc of everyday life when they plug in their iPod however, this deters any form of interaction with others. Before the iPod was invented, people would communicate further than a simple wave hello. The IPod forfeits any chance of meeting new people on the street and concurrently delivers the message that the user lacks common courtesy. IPods have even caused tensions in marriages as the communication begins to be replaced by the ever fascinating iPod. This new form of technology that provides hours of music is also providing a growing distance between people as an increasing number of people plug in.

Gaming
Technology over the past decade has vastly changed how human beings relate with one another. One aspect of technology that has greatly influenced society is video games. Video games have become a huge way in which technology can take over our lives. Rather than playing games with friends in person, we can now play with friends and strangers alike, virtually. Instead of kids spending their days outside playing, they can spend it glued to the controller and television set. Rather than time with friends and family, people can spend their time playing online with complete strangers. Video games have changed the way we as humans develop and interact with one another. Video games have had a huge impact on personal development, relationships, and even crime in some cases. There are studies that show that kids who play video games are more likely to use drugs and drink alcohol, become obese, exhibit violent and erratic behavior, and perform poorly academically. Video games have also been reported to have an adverse effect on relationships with friends and family. There are studies that show that someone who spends more time gaming alone is less likely to spend time with their family and friends. In some extreme cases, video games have even lead to violent crimes resulting in tragic deaths of innocent people. For example, there was a report of a boy killing his mother because she had banned him from playing Halo 3. All in all, video games have had a negative impact on how we relate with one another. They can have adverse effects on how our children develop socially, ruin our relationships with family and friends, and even, in extreme cases, even lead to crime.

Instant Messaging
Instant messaging is a vast communication tool that began on our computers over a decade ago and now it is integrated in our cell phones and portable communication devices as well. Instant messaging first began to become popular following its predecessors IRC’s (internet relay chat) and MUD’s (Multi User Dungeons).IRC which is an old program is still used by people and most people prefer the simplicity of this program. The ability to instantly talk via a form of 'e-mail' quickly became a hit with internet users all over the world and has completely transformed the way we communicate with loved ones, friends, family, and even new people we've met. IM allows us to quickly and easily communicate with those that we want to communicate with, it also tends to take the personal level of communication out of the situation. The face to face communication is gradually fading away with this technology. We can keep in touch with instant messaging for free and have hold multiple conversations or even group chats at once. This is a great tool to make plans, exchanging information and have a quick talk, but again the face to face socializing cannot be replaced by this technology. Instant messaging these days are even integrated into various websites, the most popular one is Facebook which with the new version, the users can easily talk to each other while browsing their profile. Big names like Microsoft and yahoo even came up with the agreement to join, they can exchange instant messages from Yahoo messenger or MSN messenger. AOL and Google ( GMail ) later on came up with the same agreement.