"By the time you read this story, the Internet may be obsolete."

http://www.techhive.com/article/169863/obsolete_tech.html

Reflecting on obsolete technology in the past weeks got my nostalgic gears turning. During my research, I came across this article that is definitely worth a read. This list of 40 activities are rapidly approaching extinction or have already dissapeared. 

One of the ones that stood out to me was the extinction of the "blind date." At first, I was confused on how this extinction applied to technology, but after I read the description, it is interesting to ponder the dissapearance of this once-common dating technique. With social media, "stalking someone" has taken a whole new definition than it had in the past. If we know someone's full name, and want to learn more about them, instead of settling for a play-by-play from a trusted friend, we type their name into the search bar of as many social media sites as we can get, craving information overload about a stranger. We are quick to judge the books by their cover without ever even meeting them in person. 

Another that stood out was #40:
"Giving Someone Your Undivided Attention During a Social Interaction. Status: Showing signs of illness. Oh, come on--talking without simultaneously texting or tweeting is so 2008." This one made me a little sad to be honest. Me and my friends have been on this "no phone zone" kick and I think that more people should join this trend. Having social interactions face to face is part of human nature. I actually have a fear of being sucked into the technology world so deep that my relationships suffer in exchange for "likes" on a post or "number of followers." Our conversations are interupted by us feeling the need to keep up with the instant updates happening from everyone we know. It's not even necessary to ask old friends what they have been up to because we already know from social media. There is a weird relationship between feeling connected to so many people at once, while simultaneously feeling disconnected from our closest friends. I strive to not let my relationships spread thin due to this epidemic and hope that more of us become nostaglic for deeper interpersonal interactions.