Facebook fatigue

Just got in from 6 days in Maryland at my folks with limited internet use. Will keep this brief as I have "little ones" to greet at 8am.

Found this article while I was away on people with "social networking fatigue".

What I took from the article is the following -

Social networking isn't going anywhere, BUT some people are finding they do need a break from Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and the like.

I recall a college friend and I having a spirited debate about 13 years ago concerning the internet and its potential for revolutionizing communication. At that time he was, and still is, working in information technology. He was convinced that once technology worked out the kinks, an online conversation would be just as meaningful as a face-to-face conversation. I argued, much like the managing director at the end of the article, that there is something unique and special in live human contact. Body language, expression, and tone can only truly be experienced face-to-face. Technology can come close and may certainly help in bringing people together, but humans still appear to crave interacting "in person".

Is it possible some young people are discovering this as well, once the rush of gathering 600 "friends" is over? I don't think they/we can do without web 2.0, but I do believe they will continue to redefine its role in their/our lives.

As a teacher who looks to incorporate this into teaching, I want to make use of this technology, because I think it opens up untapped paths of communication, yet I don't want to contribute to fatigue. In other words, I don't want students to see a band blog "as yet another thing I have to check everyday". Admittedly, I am in a minority among my teaching peers as most don't use blogs, but imagine if every class set up a blog, would students grow tired of checking them all AND keeping up with their Facebook page, etc? Some of my students have 9 classes! What would make my blog more worthwhile to contribute to than another?

I'm just thinking out loud after many traffic-laden hours in the car and am certainly open to feedback. Thanks!!