Is Facebook Turning Us Into Neanderthals?

Has it occurred to you that Facebook is killing the art of language? Previously, if you liked someone, you needed to express it in words. But in Facebookland, all you need to do is to send him/her a mindless poke, or a hug, or a high five, or a button. What's next...pink elephants?

Another conversation killer is that awful entity that goes by the collective title of "forwards". These are those jokes/pictures/slide shows/You Tube videos that keep flooding your email inbox. I liken them to a virus: once they enter your system, they are impossible to get rid of. I'm not saying I don't enjoy an occasional good joke, but not twenty every blessed day. And they are like bloody boomerangs. You dispatch them post haste to "friends", but the darn things keep coming back to you. Apart from having nuisance value, they virtually obliterate the need for personal contact - even electronically - as a means of staying in touch. There are people you haven't had any personal contact in months, but you assuage your conscience by mechanically sending them "forwards". Hey, it shows you're thinking of them, doesn't it? Does it really? An average emailer will have around 25 persons on his forward list. After a while, do we even remember everyone who's on the list? And what effort does it take to "remember" them? One click of the mouse and you've supposedly done your good deed for the day. Give me a break.

Last but not least are those infuriating emoticons: smiley faces, frowning faces, devilish grins - you name it. There is an emoticon to suit every emotion: no need to put it in words at all. Sometimes I feel mankind is regressing back to ancient civilizations, when language comprised mostly of hieroglyphics and pictures. This is progress?

Let's get with the program, folks. Where the devil are going? Man is supposed to be the Almighty's greatest creation. Let us reclaim him before he becomes a mindless automaton.