Computer Love: Is Technology Hurting Our relationships?

Twittering while on a date? Check.
Twittering during family dinner? Check.
Twittering while giving birth? Check.

It’s all been recorded on Twitter and in case you aren’t hip to the new obsession, Twitter is a social networking website that allows you to tell thousands of people what you’re doing in any given moment. From shameless self-promotion to in depth personal niceties, folks are sparing their inner most thoughts and feelings on the web and most have the convenience to do so via cell phones. The celebrity presence on Twitter is astounding and stars like Erykah Badu, who updated her Twitter followers while in labor with her third child, have even become victim to the craze. However, harmless twittering can turn into a harmful consequence on your relationship, whether it’s romantic or platonic.

According to an article in USAToday, wives are asking their husbands to politely remove themselves from cyber space and return to the real world. “Guys get obsessed with video games, or they over-share on the Internet, which is so unattractive,” said Lauren Herskovic, managing editor of CollegeCandy.com to USAToday. “No one is actually in the moment anymore.” But it’s not just our significant others. It’s family members, best friends, coworkers and even strangers and who users fail to give their undivided attention to, for the sake of communicating with people who they may not know. In a day and age when text messages have given way to phone calls and iChats have conveniently replaced in-person visits, some say the quality of our relationships is in jeopardy.

Do you agree? Has technology put a damper on relationships as we know it?