Technology 2012 ... Good or Bad for Communication?

When given the question..."How has the progress of the internet effected communication of family and friends?" I found it strangely difficult to answer, because I have never really thought about it before. I know that I am on Facebook everyday and am constantly checking my emails, but I never actually sat back and thought about how all this forth coming new technology, and birth of all the social networks actually altered my relationships. 

With that being said, here is what I have concluded; since joining Facebook, I talk to people more often. When I graduated high school I pretty much didn't care if I ever talked to most of the kids I graduated with ever again. High school was filled with so much drama, I was happy to graduate and move on with my life. However, since I graduated, almost 4 years ago, Facebook has reconnected me with people I never thought I would ever want to talk to again. It is nice to see how the once ridiculous people I called classmates have grown and matured into responsible adults like myself. 

As for the family aspect of social networking and internet communicating, most of my family is also on Facebook, my mother, grandmother (yes i said my grandmother!), all my aunts, my brother, also my in-laws. So if anything it allows us all to see what each other is up to. I still visit my family the same amount, I never really was one to call my grandmother or aunts and uncles frequently. My family is so huge that we see each other pretty regularly between holidays and birthdays.

After thinking about all of that it was a relief to realize that the internet really has not changed the way I communicate with people, if anything, it enhance it!