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Is genuine communication becoming a thing of the past?

Today one of my fellow coworkers sent me information on slydial, a service that allows you to dial friends, loved ones, an ex, or potential significant other and go straight to voicemail.  Sites such as this one really beg the question “Why is genuine conversation becoming a thing of the past?”

Slydial’s selling proposition states that users of their service can "create the illusion of communication". In today’s society of gadgets and advanced technology, earthlings seem to be interacting with one another more like robots and less like human beings.  As I type this I realize that I’m as big an offender of communication fraud as anyone. I’ve become so used to texting responses, micro blogging and posting updates that I’ve lost a certain zest that used to be present in my phone and face to face conversations.
People today are no busier than they were 15 years ago, so why is it that we are more prone to blow others off and handle communication in sentence snips and text rubbish than we were back in the day? I’d say it’s because businesses creating high-tech gadgets and social media sites are encouraging it. Texting, Tweeting and Facebooking are in our face constantly as a result of these companies putting mega-dollars into advertising and public relations that show how rad it is to communicate in fragments. It has worked. My generation of X’ers has clearly fallen in line.
As a result of the social marketing boom, many business owners think that traditional media are dead. If that were true, the TV commercials and print ads that we have all bought into wouldn’t have pushed companies like Verizon, Google, Facebook and Twitter to the top and changed the way people communicate across the globe. 
Lessons learned? 

1. Think twice before slydialing or text responding to a phone call. It’s just rude and it’s ruining your ability to communicate in general. I’ll be taking my own advice.
2. Naysayers of traditional media should rethink saying that social media will take their place. It may not be as strong as it once was, but it’s still a force to be reckoned with when it comes to creating brand preference and changing consumer perception.

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