Is Social Media Making Us Anti-Social?

I was in the gym this morning, minding my own business on the elliptical machine. I was humming along in my usual routine but couldn't help notice my fellow gym-mate on the machine next to me, who was updating her Facebook status about her gym activities. This wouldn't be so out of the ordinary except for the fact that she was specifically communicating with her fellow gym-mate on the treadmill on the cardiac deck below.

There is something inherently bizarre about this and as much as I am a fan of social media, it struck me as incredibly odd and incredibly anti-social that these two individuals chose not to communicate one on one when their cardio session was complete. Was the update that pressing that it couldn't have assumed the format of real-life conversation after the 40 minutes were up?

It is not my intent to disparage my two fellow gym rats but I can't help but think about this philosophically about what is says about the behaviors we have become habituated to, and the diminished value that is increasingly become a sad side-effect of the social age.

I go out of my way to write cards and personalized notes. I like shaking people's hands and having real-live conversations, even if only to talk about reality TV, current events, or their kids' soccer tournament.  It's interesting, fun, and real.

Balance is always a part of life--social or otherwise. There is something about social networking, texting, voicemail, email, or any form of communication that does not require real-live interaction that allows us to evade that most important elements which makes us distinct as a species -- human interaction.

This is not to say that I will stop tweeting, posting on Facebook, or blogging. It is only an observation that speaks to the need to more consciously seek balance in what I think is becoming an increasingly unbalanced world.