By Megan Walsh, Staff Writer
DO's
In the age of email, Facebook, and texting, it goes without saying that there are still some conversations better said in person, but the common problem with the class of 2014 and pretty much every class is that everyone is still acting like they're high school freshmen when it comes to the maturity level of digital conversations.
Talking about a serious problem through a text message or Facebook post (no matter how many exclamation points or sad faces there are) still leaves a good amount of translation up to the imagination. First, even though there are different icons for a frown and smile doesn't mean it correctly conveys your true feelings in a way everyone can understand. Second, it should be clear that no one can hear voice inflection in a text. It's impossible to convey because voice inflection is something that is heard, so putting it in a visual text message is going to be impossible to show.
So take for example, the typical, every day college freshman. If Kyle wants to break up with Courtney, no matter how tempting it is to send, "Hey Courtney. Idk if I want to go out anymore lets b friends," in a text or Facebook message, he shouldn't, because he will still be hated by every one of Courtney's friends and relatives. It may be becoming far more frequent for someone to break up on some digital device but it doesn't mean society accepts it.
DON'TS
That said, my advice to the rest of Hofstra's freshman class is to start learning how to talk with people face-to-face. Yes, it can be pretty inconvenient to ask to meet up for a one-on-one when your trying to get a report done at two in the morning, so let's pretend you could possibly actually postpone the conversation: "Srry gtg tty 2mrrw". Then when you have a minute the next day, take the time to say whatever it is that would have been cowardly to say in the digital world.
At the same time, these same digital tools can be a useful way of keeping in touch with people. Conversations which would be thoroughly acceptable to have in text or Facebook include, but are not limited to, telling your friend the latest update on how you did on the midterm, asking about a question that would only warrant a one word response, which teachers to pick when you're up at 12 midnight on November 8th registering for classes, or how annoyed you are that you have to wait until midnight to actually register for these classes.
To sum it up, in a world where all college students are on their Facebook and cell phones just about 24 hours a day, remember there's a world outside of it. Nothing can take the place of directly communicating with another person so take the time to get off and really socialize.