I’m certain my grandkids will never dial a phone number, or even have one. It’s time to say goodbye to ten digits along with the world’s oldest social network.  While we’re at it, let’s kill phone-tree mazes, do-not-call lists…everything associated with phone numbers.

Don’t misconstrue what I’m saying. This isn’t the demise of phone calls.  Far from it.  People will still talk on their phones.  They just want the service to be simple and fun, which won’t entail punching digits into a device to start a conversation.

» via TechCrunch

soupsoup:

Game changer.

Good communication is a matter of getting “in sync” with others, as you’ve probably noticed when you’ve seen people match their steps perfectly as they walk, and imitate each other’s gestures as they talk, and use each other’s phrases and grammar. Last week, this paper reported  this kind of coordination in the most important place of all: When people converse, it reports, regions of their brains synchronize their activity. “Neural coupling,” they argue, is a key part of communication.

» via Big Think

Although it’s a scholarly work, the pain of the stories is clear. A student named Leslie checked her Facebook profile late in the day and found out the guy she thought was her boyfriend was announcing on his newsfeed that he had a new girlfriend. Then, Gershon writes, Leslie noticed that her own profile had changed because her now-ex boyfriend was no longer listed as the person she was in a relationship with.

Facebook’s role is unique because it is so public, Gershon says. (In one class, her students compared it to the abstract gaze described by French philosopher Michel Foucault). “Facebook official” has emerged as a new stage in a relationship, Gershon says, but the meaning can differ from one person to the next. Gershon says that some people will claim that a breakup isn’t official until it is Facebook official, while others point out that changes in Facebook status may just be a sign of trouble; in many cases it’s unclear whether the breakup will take.

Texting creates other problems. A student named Rebecca had an on-again, off-again relationship with her boyfriend, Ted. Just when she thought things were going well, she got a text that said, “this isn’t working out.” The rest of the breakup was conducted entirely by texting; Ted refused to answer the phone, e-mails, or Facebook messages. Rebecca got angrier and angrier because she couldn’t engage him in an actual conversation about what had gone wrong, Gershon says.

» via Newsweek