Social Networks and Interpersonal Intelligence

Posted on October 10, 2006

Some individuals are turning away from the social networks in favor of face-to-face meetings. Simply dropping social network profiles may be unusual but some experts believe there could be a return back to face-to-face communication as the buzz over social networks wears off. A happy medium between real and virtual communications will eventually be established.

Dr. Michael Bugeja, director of Iowa State's journalism school and author of Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age, told the AP that he lectures students about "interpersonal intelligence." He says, "True friends need to learn when to stop blogging and go across campus to help a friend."

Other social network users have found that people aren't nearly as exciting or interesting as they sound on their profile. The article also says some people use social networks as a way to avoid social confrontations.

Looked at this way social networks could also make it easier for the other person to say "no." On the positive side at least people are using the social networks to set up actual dates in the real world. It is really up to today's youth to decide how much time they will ultimately spend with IMs, social networks, video games and persistent worlds. However, there have already been reported problems in the workplace with Gen Y workers who focus too much on chatty IMs and not enough on face-to-face meetings with coworkers and the boss. It will be important for today's kids to embrace Dr. Bugeja's interpersonal intelligence idea and understand when and why it is the appropriate time for a text message, IM, handshake, hug or face-to-face talk.