iPods: Are They Leading to Anti-Social Behavior?

During my time on jury duty, I have been taking advantage of using the Light Rail Train to ride from the Mall of America to the Government Center. It is my favorite form of transportation because it is clean, both environmentally and physically, and more importantly, I do NOT get motion sick while riding! So, I am able to read, write in my journal, people watch, or listen to music.

Listen to music. This is something that approximately 80% of the commuters that I watched did on their way to work and/or school on the LRT. All of the music-systems were personal players such as iPod or another type of MP3 player. I was one of the masses listening to music. Listening to music in public places reminded me of our honeymoon to Greece where music was everywhere! There was music in all of the stores, restaurants, hotel lobbies, and even in the airplanes. It was a sort of communal music that you were exposed to, but everyone was exposed to, so it became a sort of background noise to the conversations that were loudly occurring in order to be heard over the music. Music and conversation co-habited in the society.

What has happened to the conversation in society now that the iPod has become so prevalent? Do we miss an opportunity to have a conversation with some who may end up being a friend or even a soulmate? Okay, let's not take it that far, but are we losing our ability to hold conversations with new people?

Is the iPod and other MP3 players leading to a new type of anti-social behavior? For instance, the first day I rode the LRT, I did not have my headset on immediately and the woman next to me struck up a conversation with me. Come to find out, both of us were headed for jury duty and we had a really nice conversation about the process and how it was affecting each of her lives. She is a stay at home mom with a husband who is fighting cancer and is trying to start up a remodeling business. She expressed how she was going through a series of feelings: excitement to be out learning something new and talking with adults, guilt for leaving her husband with the three children, and concern for her husband's health. Overall, it was a snippet it time that left an impression on me. Neither one of us knows each other's names, but when we saw each other 3 days later at the LRT station, we were able to readily (and easily) strike up another conversation and we caught up on the court cases that we had both been assigned to and how impressed we both were with how the deliberation process worked. If I had been wearing my iPod that morning, I would not have had an acquaintance with whom to share notes about our perceptions of a common experience between us.

Okay, do NOT get me wrong, I am NOT going to be getting rid of my iPod. I love it AND I purposely used it to avoid conversations when I don't want to be bothered. I just find it interesting that we might be missing out on different opportunities to meet other people. Of course, I am a chatty person with strangers (I think I inherited this from my Mom), so other people may never even consider striking up or continuing a conversation with a stranger on the Light Rail.

What about you? Have you thought about iPods and lack of conversation? Do you feel a sense of isolation (this can be desired isolation, not just the negative connotations derived from the word) when you have your iPod or MP3 player in your ears?