The NZ Herald carried this story a few days ago: New Zealand News – Technology – A cellphone is a girl’s best friend.
Increasing numbers of youngsters tucked up in bed with their mobile phones are, in effect, sleeping with a whole bunch of strangers, research from Victoria University shows.
The phenomenon is the result of “cold calling”, where teens text unknown friends of friends to gauge the possibility of romance or friendship, then leave their phones on overnight in case they get a call.
Reminds me of a excerpt of writing from Richard Briggs who says
It is said that virtual reality is displacing our real world. The world is shrinking. Not, let it be noted, because we are being washed whiter than ever, but because it is now possible to enter anyone’s personal space, get inside their home, and achieve intimate inter-personal contact without having to deal with what they look like, smell like, sound like, or in fact what they are like in any human dimension at all. This is a new definition of inter-personal, but since it is so much more convenient than the old one, that’s no problem. We live, then, in a global village: neighbours to all kinds of unsavoury other people. Better not to dwell on that. Wouldn’t want to have to get involved. Well, the pastoral implications alone are staggering.
