Tech Thursday: What Would Nana Say?

by , posted on February 24th, 2011 in Technology



 

A friend of mine recently posted an op-ed piece on her facebook wall titled: Why Social Media is Bringing Back Our Grandparents’ Values.

I found it quite compelling. The idea is that we are once again building communities, much like our grandparents’ generation did. Only now, we’re using technology to do it. And we’re not just building communities, but using technology to strengthen family bonds as well.

So today’s technology question is this: Do you see social media distracting you from connecting with your family or enhancing it? And if you do find it enhances it, how?

And one more question to ponder (if you’re so inclined)…what about our parents? Did community building skip a generation?

 

 

Technology Thursday is a joint project of Classic Play! and (cool) progeny. Each week, both blogs will be taking on a family-technology-related issue. We invite you to join the conversation!

Past discussions in this series:
A family that games together stays together?
Tech Thursday: Can Gaming Make you a Better Parent
Should schools turn to gaming to teach our boys?
Tech Thursday: Boys and Gaming
Cyber lessons to pass onto next generation
Tech Thursday: Cyber Civility


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7 Responses to “Tech Thursday: What Would Nana Say?”

  1. Monica Says:

    February 24th, 2011 at 7:08 pm

    Definitely a uniting force for our family! My immediate family is spread out across the globe so skype, email, facebook, and snapfish have collectively kept three generations connected and informed. I wish that we didn’t have to rely on technology to stay connected, but then again, without technology we would probably not have had the courage to venture out into unknown territories. We would have stayed close to our parents and been miserable. It’s a win-win scenario now…

    [Reply]

    Jennifer Cooper Reply:
    February 24th, 2011 at 8:05 pm

    Such a great point about it giving us the courage to venture out into unknown territories.

    I know for us, we have been able to stay in touch with extended family through facebook. It’s been fantastic. And it’s nice when we get together too because it’s as if we know what’s been going on.

    [Reply]

  2. Andrea Says:

    February 25th, 2011 at 1:17 am

    This is a tough one. With all the work I do on “the computer” sometimes I think it does less for my family than it should. But I definitely feel like technology is helping me build a community. Just this morning I had lunch with ladies from my new community and had fun, learned stuff and can’t wait for the next one. I wouldn’t have met these women if it hadn’t been for social media – so I definitely think that it is helping me to grow my community!

    [Reply]

    Jennifer Cooper Reply:
    February 25th, 2011 at 1:34 am

    So happy to hear you were able to meet up with some new people!

    There’s a fine line to be sure. Not always sure about what that line is myself. Hopefully with time and now that the novelty has worn off for many of us, we’ll use the technology work for us rather than get swept up in it.

    [Reply]

  3. Heather Says:

    February 25th, 2011 at 4:15 am

    I’ve been kind of chuckling about this concept today. My family is a family of story tellers. My grandmother was one of six – five girls and one boy. It’s an incredibly tight knit extended family (think my Big Fat Greek Wedding) and all of the story keepers (those in my grandmother’s generation) know what’s going on in each of their sibling’s families. As the families have grown, this got more complicated. But through facebook, those of us in the third generation (and that makes us third cousins, right?) know what’s going on in one another’s lives. Last summer, I accidentally stole my mom’s cousin’s thunder who was planning to announce at the family reunion that she was about to be a grandma again. Well, her daughter in law had posted on facebook two weeks earlier that she was expecting child number 2, so of course I had told my mom and it went through the family grapevine. By the time my mom’s cousin made the big announcement, it was ‘old news.’ Whoops.

    But then again, was it really a whoops? Things you’d only ever find out about at an annual family reunion are now part of my every day communication.

    [Reply]

  4. Tech Thursday: Do You Take Your Coffee with a Splash of Smart Phone? Says:

    March 3rd, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    [...] discussions in this series: Growing a Community Tech Thursday: What Would Nana Say? A family that games together stays together? Tech Thursday: Can Gaming Make you a Better Parent [...]

  5. Tech Thursday – How Much Is Too Much? Says:

    March 10th, 2011 at 7:33 pm

    [...] discussions in this series: Do you take your coffee with a splash of Smart Phone? What Would Nana Say? Can Gaming Make you a Better Parent Boys and Gaming Cyber [...]

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