With technology a pervasive and often intrusive part of our lives, many of us struggle for balance. Sometimes responding to a notification or online conversation seems more tempting than attending to my son’s request, to find time to go cycling together.

There seems to be two sets of human instincts competing with each other. The instinct to nurture and cement close personal relationships on one hand; and the need to be understood by, understand, and connect with a broader set of people, even strangers, on the other.

While some may argue that the balance sought, is actually between narcissism vs. things that really matter, I’m not so sure it is quite that simple. Social connections do have a time-tested role in human evolution.

Technology has been the great enabler of the ability to harvest broader connections, by projecting our presence virtually.  The fact that we can now use technology to cement and forge bonds, only adds another facet to our social relations. This is as true today for online social networks as it was for the telephone.

At this point in our history, all of us are trying to figure out how it all fits together. There are bound to be mistakes, as we experiment.

Will our predispositions compel future tech entrepreneurs to innovate around, and augment our closely held values? Or do you think we will allow technology to forever alter/update our value systems?

What is your incentive to be on social media today? Do you think you are able to use it in a positive way or do you have negativity attached to the experience?

Most of my posts this month are part of the Halloween-Hollywood inspired series. You may republish the above parodic art-work online as long as you link back to this post.