Opinion: Snapchat? Instagram? In my day we had Lincoln Park and the weather line

Watching the youth of today communicate with cell phones or electronic devices makes me feel ancient. Still, I wonder how our cyber-smart kids would have gotten along back when I was their age.

In the early 1960s I thought I was a pretty savvy 14-year-old. We may not have had texting but we did have the WALE weather line. For the uninformed, this was a telephone party line number. Once dialed and connected, you were provided with a prerecorded weather forecast. As a side benefit one also heard the background voices of other teen callers, like echoes from beyond, yelling, "What’s your number?" I once got a girl's telephone number that way and later met her for a date at the Center Theatre. (Not an entirely successful encounter, but that's another story.)

Socializing for today's teen seems much easier. With minimal effort boys frequently receive a request from a girl to be "followed" on something called Instagram. With any luck, after exchanging a few cryptic responses, the couple might engage in a more private Snapchat conversation. Here from the safety of their own homes they socialize through mutual messaging.

It wasn't quite that easy in the 1960s. To begin with, one had to actually go out of the house and find a place where other teens congregated. Once there, we'd meet face to face and engage in a mutual conversation. With luck, this might even lead to a social connection. As I recall, the onus for pursuing a relationship was placed on the male. At least girls back then let us believe that was the case.

Snapchatting and other forms of cyber communication follow unwritten rules of engagement that are, to say the least, confusing. These so-called conversations go on endlessly, sometimes into the middle of the night. I've been told that the last person to leave a message expects that the other person must be the first to resume a new conversation. This expresses a level of interest. Failure to do so is perceived as some kind of cyber faux pas.

Similarly, on Instagram, one must "like" another's pictures or messages. To do otherwise could be interpreted as an insult or sign of rejection.

It sounds very complicated to me. There really should be a book for adults called, "Teen Cyber Communication 101 for Dummies."

My most difficult telephone conversations happened when a girl's father was not my biggest fan and prohibited my incoming calls. One time I discovered that a disapproving father worked at night. Having learned his schedule, I was able to dial up his daughter during the absence. We were a creative bunch back then.

In my retirement, I teach at a nearby college. Before class I've often observed students lingering outside the classroom, feverishly texting other students on their cell phones. Now to me, that's just a missed opportunity to socialize. When I was in college, students would actually (gasp!) talk to each other before class. I'm not sure but I think I met my wife that way.

For every advantage technology has given our youth, it has also taken something away. When my grandkids talk about Snapchatting their friends I often retort with something like, “Well that's fine, but we had Lincoln Park on Friday nights."

I could go on but it's getting late and I'm due to Facetime my daughter in Maine. BFN. TTYL. LOL.

Edward Costar

Fall River