Its been a long while since I commented (and read my feeds).. but this post struck me because I realised something lately too.

All those social networking sites, like MBL, LinkedIn… they are great tools to help people get in touch, but the keeping in touch is really up to the person with the account! Often at times, it is the quality of the relationship that is important, not the number of contacts you have.

Its a good approach to maintain strong links with a close inner circle while still penning your thoughts for a wider audience of acquaintainces. Nothing beats the personal touch of face-to-face meetings, handwritten letters and one-to-one emails although as you rightly pointed out, such time and energy consuming activities are limited to a special few.

Oh yes, there is also a difference between how men and women maintain relationships too. For one, married ladies are far better at keeping in close touch with their circle of friends than married guys are. On the other hand, guys may have truckloads of folks that they know but few that they truly open themselves up to.

i stick to emails, handwritten cards, letters, the ‘old’ form of communication. coz i keep my circle of intimates fairly small. and for these intimates, i bother to take the effort to put that human touch to it.

the other acquaintances, while i value them as a person, i rarely make that extra step to add the human touch. unless something clicks.

I guess its a difference in the way that they communicate, although the basic dynamics of human relationships remain the same. If you look at the technology changes in the last century or so – from the postage stamps to telegraphs to faxes to emails to chat to SMSes to MMSes and now ubiquitous computing – human interactions are still pretty similar. Kids will still think their parents are fuddy duddy and each generation will have its “good old days”… I guess this is why heritage does have some value too… 😉

And although the web may link people from all corners of the globe, most of the contacts are superficial.

True indeed. Its better to have a few great friends and business associates with clout and influence, than to have a thousand associates who barely know you let alone trust you enough to want to undertake a business deal together.

Thanks for popping by! Somehow we do get fixated with the latest, greatest and slickest tech-enabled thing-a-ma-jig. For example Singtel’s latest foray into IPTV. But the question we should ask ourselves is whether the content is there, and more importantly, whether it enhances our lifestyles with a natural fit.

=)