Follow up: Keep in touch, friends!

This weekend, I wrote about how people resort to social mediums and text messaging to keep in touch with friends.  This approach is very informal, yet, is becoming the norm for how communicating with friends, even significant others, happens.  My goal was to go ‘old school’ by actually calling people that I either haven’t seen or talked to in months, or even people that are into the text message way of communicating.

Here are the results:

• Called 8 people
• One ended up to be a wrong number
• One responded by text messaging me, letting me know they received my voicemail
• Two answered right away: had a nice conversation with both; made plans to meet up this week for a happy hour; the other, I’m going to work out at her place after work tonight
• One called back after receiving my voicemail; made plans to meet up this week
• The other three, I’m still awaiting a response

3/8 in baseball is .375; one could say that this was s small success.  There are plenty of people that did not get called yesterday; more will come this week.

It felt good to take the initiative and call these people; the people that answered were very happy to hear from me (hence the 3/3 on planning on getting together this week with the people that answered).   Hoping for more calling success tonight… one for sure!

~Jason Douglas

twitter: @jasondouglas

Keep in touch, friends!

That’s a common phrase said to people you don’t see often.  It’s always said with the right intent, how many times do you actually keep in touch?  Today, I’m getting together with a couple of college roommates, one of which I haven’t seen since last summer.  If it wasn’t for him randomly texting me earlier this week, we’re not getting together.

Text messaging, along with sites such as facebook, myspace, even twitter, give all of us the ability to feel like we’re in touch with someone.  By looking at their profile, reading their wall, past status updates, looking at a few new pics, and even poking somoene, you feel like you know exactly what’s going on in someone’s life.   One of my better friends and I didn’t see each other for nearly a year, yet texted each other almost every day. That worket, but shouldn’t be standard for him or everyone else.

What happened to ‘calling’ someone?  Is this already considered ‘so 2007′?

We’re all guilty of it, resorting to texting, facebook stalking, etc versus a simple call.  Of all the numbers I have in my phone, all the friends I have on facebook: I might talk to maybe 10% of them; yet, I feel like I know what is going on with 80-90% of my friends’  lives.

Everyone is busy, or that’s what everyone says.  Are we afraid of getting stuck in a conversation that might last longer than you want with someone you used to consider a very close friend?  Do you really feel like someone’s friend if you text message them once in a while?

I’m all for social media; but I think it’s changing the rules of friendships, even relationships, as we speak.  Is this for the better?

In the time it took me to write this blog, or for you to read this blog, we could have called someone we care about, even if it’s just to say hello. Maybe this should be added to my 09 resolutions/goals list.  There are a few calls I’ll be making this weekend. Will you?