Not-So-Curious George

It is a wealthy suburb in San Jose. It is 2007.

George awakens late in the morning – the result of another long Friday night spent instant messaging with friends halfway around the globe. Contemplating his laziness, George picks up his cell phone from his bedside and places a call to his home phone number. When his mother answers, he brushes aside her usual tirade about the phone bill and asks her what she has served for breakfast.

With the introduction of e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging and the Internet, each individual’s social network can readily spread across continents. Yet inversely, the need for personal contact has diminished at an equally drastic rate.

Unimpressed with the breakfast du jour, George turns on his computer. Checking his e-mail every morning has become as routine as brushing his teeth. The welcome message of his e-mail account seemingly dictates his daily moods; he is exuberant when greeted by 20 new messages, depressed when the page sneers, “No new mail.”

Today however, George hesitantly waits for the website to load. Wanting “a break” from Katie, he had sent his girlfriend an e-mail the previous night, announcing impassively that he wanted to end their relationship, much in the manner one might contact a company to terminate a credit card. Not wanting to hurt the poor girl’s feelings, George opted to hide behind the security of impersonal communication rather than face Katie in person.

If a young suitor of the Victorian Era had caught a glimpse of courtship in the twenty-first century, he would have been appalled by the hasty wooing of today. Thanks to Internet dating services, couples are linked from all parts of the world, oftentimes without having ever met. According to Time magazine, an increasing number of couples stream live videos of their weddings online for family and friends to watch in the comfort of their homes.

Browsing through the news feed of his networking profile, George discovers that his sister Jenny is currently "thrilled that we won the championship last night!" He does not find it strange that he learns more about his sister’s life by reading her profile than by talking to the girl in the neighboring room. His mother disagrees; she insists that he stop holing himself in his room with his computer and experience some genuine human contact.

Human contact? Please. With over 500 friends on his buddy list, George has more than enough contacts in his social network than he knows what to do with.

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An extra credit article I wrote for journalism. Just for you, M. Yin.