Hat tip to Jack Lail for sharing this completely shocking and almost unbelievable video from NBC’s Today. I can’t find the video, or I would embed it. Please watch the video… It has me completely shocked.

I’m a firm believer that too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Applied to personal talents, a strength overdone is a weakness. That pretty much sums up my perspective on any technology, no matter how controversial or mundane. But this absolutely blows my mind. One teen couldn’t read a clock. Another one wondered how he would interact if he wasn’t able to send 17,500 text messages per month (seriously… I’m speechless), and another one seemed clueless about an actual newspaper. I know we celebrate that youth engage technology and are curious, but is this how social media is affecting their problem solving and social interaction skills? I mean, I honestly thought this was a joke at first.

Let me sum up my grumpy old man rant by saying that the real power/opportunity/market for social media is so misunderstood and abused by soooooo many. And apparently parents don’t teach their children constraint.