Technology Overload/Being Overconnected

If you are a "NetGen-er" (those born from the mid 80's to early 90's), or are a techno-savvy baby boomer, or Gen X-er, then you've probably noticed the changes that Facebook made to their layout yet again. I reacted negatively to the change.  Really, how many times does the layout need to change?  Now, I have to figure out how to view my profile, why my chat moved...and what the heck is up with the search bar moving to the top of the page?!?

But that wasn't the only  technological change that hit the masses this week.  Google decided to throw its hat in with the Twitter/Facebook crowd and add "Buzz" to the Gmail email client.  Buzz is basically Twitter, but only for those people that you truly care about.  It features the ability to upload photos, like Facebook; The ability to "like" a status, like Facebook, and the the convenient status stream that both Twitter and Facebook utilize.

My question is:  Why?  What is this obsession that we have with constantly "improving" social networking and electronic communication?  Is there a point to which efficacy will no longer matter?  Can we be too effective at "improvement?"  Are we, instead of improving on technology, becoming socially connected to a unhealthy point?  One of my colleagues made mention of something her daughter said:  "Mom, it's like 1984 has come to be, except instead of 'Big Brother' watching, we're watching each other."

What's strange is, that I have to agree.  We are becoming more and more "connected" to each other, obsessed with self-disclosing.  What I see in all of this is some strange obsession with seeming important, or having some 15 minutes of fame.  There are several things that disturb me about this:

Ease
We've made it so easy to self-disclose.  A click here, an edit there, and we are able to, in a relatively short amount of time, create online personas, complete with everything that people could possibly want to know about us.  It is my belief that this is phenomenally dangerous, even with the ability to "control" privacy in these online forums.  Without much effort, it is fairly easy to discover anything a person wants to discover about another person.  Thus, it doesn't require much effort to broadcast anything that a person wants to broadcast, and it is easy to stalk somebody.

A General Lack of Real Connection
What these "improvements" are resulting in is a lack of personal connection.  Rather, they absolve a person of any sort of commitment in relationships.  The degree of commitment that I am inferring that one is absolved of, is best explained by the following.  A person "checks up on" another person online by viewing a profile or status updated, but doesn't bother to call or text the person.  Rather they "comment on a status" or "post" something to another person's account. What about face-to-face contact?

In any case, I am concerned about the level to which our society has become technologically connected.  It seems to me that there may be too much being sacrificed in order to become connected.  We improve, and improve, researching and following the demands of the unwashed masses, and in turn, lose touch with each other.  We sacrifice community in order to be connected.  This is the heart and soul of the human experience--to be in community--and it is quickly being lost, lest we recognize that online interaction is only a tool. The nuances, expressions, and other characteristics involved in interacting face-to-face cannot be replace by a cheapened online imitation.