A social introvert!

We are a social generation.  Though the days of coffeeshops and mall stops are no more.  Yes these social hubs still exist, and they still are used as they always had.  Today however I can talk, chat, and see anyone in my social network, regardless of physical location.

With web 2.0 applications such as Facebook and Myspace, we can keep in touch in ways previously unimagineable.  I can talk to my best friend who I haven't seen in over 10 years, while also sending a message to my mom in North Carolina.  I can even maintain a constant connection through all of my social networks, relaying realtime status updates as they happen.

Taking the constant connection one more step, entering in the fray, cell phones.  With the platform coming closer to a computer then a phone, applications and features are being built to specifically address social networking.  Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter applications are available for the iPhone, G1, and the Blackberry, and with the inclusion of gps, many more apps utilize goetagging of realtime updates.  Raising the stakes by eliminating the safety of anonymity.

I can find users within 25 miles telling me what movie they are watching, or seek out the opinions of these users on which reatuarante I should eat at, all without my computer.  Directly from my phone.  Interacting realtime with strangers.

Which begs the question how social are we really?  With so many outlets available to us, yet none of which actually tapping into that physicality which makes us human.  That one piece that is still missing.  The touch, the smell, the feeling of someone else.

Remember the movie Crash.  What's it going to take to pull us out of the virtual reality, and back in the real reality.  I will leave you with that, as my finger tips are sore from typing this on my iPhone.