I was listening to a talk show on NPR the other day. It was a fascinating discussion on how Internet is changing the way people, especially youngsters, seek and manage their relationships with others. One of the callers, who was a teacher, was wondering how kids are losing the sense for real life these days while chasing friendships and relationships online. In today’s world of MySpace and Facebook, she says, youngsters end up with a fake sense of importance and achievement - which is of very little consequence in real world.

As much as technology makes one’s life easier, I think she has a valid argument. A case in point - I keep getting these LinkedIn invitations from a lot of friends, the same people who don’t bother to call me to say hello even once a month. People want to have all those “network contacts” so they might be useful for a future job search. I mean, if someone is so serious about having me as a friend, why can’t they just pick up a phone and call me? Or even better, why can’t we meet up in person?

Another case in point - Google’s recent acquisition of Jaiku, a Finland-based Microblogging company. Microblogging is a fancy name for very frequent wireless updates to online friends about what someone is doing. The idea is you stay in touch with your online friends pretty much every minute you are awake. Honestly, who cares to know so much about others’ lives ?? What value does it add in real life !?

No matter how much technology comes into our lives, there is still no substitute for the good old personal ‘hello’ when it comes to friendships!