So I have a confession to make. To the great chagrin of my children, most probably my wife, and a number of my friends …. I listen to DubStep.

Not all of it. I mean, I am not that progressive. But a lot of it.

Maybe I am that progressive … or lame. Whichever.

Anyhow, there it is, I do it, it’s out there.

One of the songs I like has a line in it about the future where “there will be no internet friends” which got me to thinking; that would mean a generation that would have to completely change its mode of interaction.

I would like to say that it is only the current generation, but I have experienced and written about how many people my age too are addicted to this form of interaction as well.

This is not to say that this generation or my own does not have real friends. They do .. I think. However, when your most common mode of interaction is electronic there is, to me, a disassociation that is experienced.

This disassociation, in my less than expert opinion, is one of the things that is causing much of the lack of care for one another that seems to be on the rise. I mean, how do you truly learn compassion for another human being when there is a lack of human interaction.

Trolling (an internet term that you should be familiar with, if not, Google is your friend) has become a pastime for some people. This has led to some young people who are already disassociated for other personal or social reasons to take their lives. This, to me, is one of the saddest situations that exist today.

Another quick confession – I am a gamer. I know, totally out of character for me. I am not your typical demographic. Not by a long shot. What can I say, it’s how I decompress.

The online gaming community is a treasure trove of trolls (and no, I am not talking about the World of Warcraft kind – I am not that guy!).

Most of these people are quite young and immature who like to hide behind the anonymity of their online presence.

I am the guy who will wade into these trolls with both feet, especially when it involves taking up for someone else online. I have become a master of trolling the trolls.

But back to electronic disassociation.

I believe that this is having other effects on our current society. This electronic separation has created walls that we now hide behind. I have experienced, as I am sure you have, emails from the guy in the office next to mine. Especially when the topic is confrontational in some way. It is easier to shoot an email on these topics and not just go talk to the other person.

I have made a habit throughout my career, especially on sensitive or confrontational topics, to seek out the individual personally to have a conversation. Emotion cannot be conveyed in text or email, regardless of what emoticon you use!

“I really think you are clueless on this topic. Smiley face, wink, shrug….” Still comes across as sarcastic (sorry, I don’t actually have emoticons, I have to borrow them from my wife when I need them and she is not here).

This has led to the never ending email chains that we get involved with that are meant to replace meetings. Not that I am a huge advocate of meetings. I think the one thing that has come from recent advancements in project management is the Agile process. Daily Scrum meetings replacing hours long project meetings with targeted deliverables is fantastic.

This methodology relies upon the abilities of each person involved doing their part. So people must be able to embrace bringing useful information to these brief meetings without having to be coddled.

This is not to say I think that we need to avoid electronic communication all together. But there needs to be a balance.

Potentially, an internet friend’s intervention of sorts. We all get together and show up at your door for dinner!

Start looking over your Facebook friend’s photo’s so you will know who we are when we show up.

I’m on my way…. I like tacos.