such is life in the non-confrontational world.

Here we go. Another rant about instant messaging.

Since the advent of being able to have a conversation with someone without having to actually face them or hear their voice, it seems to me that people have started to become dependant on instant messaging to say things to people that they might normally be too shy to say. They use it to avoid confrontation, because they know that they can carefully think out whatever it is that they want to say before they actually say it. They know that they won’t be subjected to harsh tones or stern faces, or aggrieved tones and hurt faces. This kind of conversation is breeding apathy.

People are starting to hold off on saying things that need to be said, saving instead for an e-tirade at a time of lesser consequence. In turn, people are also lost for words when challenged to their faces, choosing instead to be tiraded for the sake of not having to confront. This kind of conversation is breeding cowardice.

Who was it that first decided his emotions would be best conveyed by a clever grouping of characters such as 🙂 🙁 and :'(. What can such simple and two-tone symbols possibly communicate compared to the range of true human emotion? If there were an emoticon for shaking one’s fist at society I would surely input it here.