IM vs. real conversation

In today's society, there is a huge dependence on technology to aid us in our daily lives. Most people would not even consider life without such means like cell phones, PDAs, computers, any form of music player, etc.. We have become so dependent on technology that we sometimes cannot live without it. An example of this, and I am preaching to myself, is Instant Messaging or IM'ing.

I would consider myself to be very technologically savvy. I am a Computer Scientist, after all. Technology bows before my hands and fingers as I type away at a keyboard, programming a computer or just having fun typing these blogs. I pretty much live on facebook. When I want to talk to someone, I either send him/her a text message with my phone or get on facebook and start a conversation using the Chat utility. More and more I find myself constantly typing away while others are socializing out in the real world.

This constant usage of technology hinders real conversation, I think. It is very simple to type a message and then say, "Oops, that's not what I meant," erase part of it and retype it before sending. It does not require the person typing to think about the conversation at hand. Furthermore emotions cannot be convey properly in an IM conversation b/c the other person cannot see the facial expressions of the other party; save those cute little emoticons, there is no form of emotion in any IM conversation. Second, it does not require either party to actually make an effort to concentrate on the conversation b/c one may browse the web or do other tasks while IM'ing. This, I must say is very convenient, but in reality hinders the conversation when neither party actually puts effort into the conversation. IM'ing, in a way, destroys relationships rather than aiding in the building of them, the ultimate goal of conversation.

So, what am I saying? I don't know. I am just making a declaration of my intent to stop IM'ing as much and start having a real conversation with the people I know and love.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the matter.