The “Weekly Wrap Up” post is published every Friday and highlights the concluding week’s activities and events through text, images and video. I hope you enjoy and encourage you to subscribe via RSS and/or Email.

My Thursday was spent in one of my favorite coffee shops, It’s A Grind, in Englewood, NJ. Looking outside at Route 4 and the passing traffic, I reflected on my week’s activities and debated the content I would discuss in my Weekly Wrap Up. Needless to say, my mouse wandered, and Facebook populated my laptop screen.

Interestingly enough, there was a status update from a name I hadn’t seen in some time. This individual was neither a close friend from high school nor a teammate from my days playing ice hockey. He was a young professional whom I met during a weekend in Lake George, NY, back in 2006. We only talked for an hour or so at one of the many mini-golf courses in the area, but like many youth do today, we became connected on Facebook.

I mention this personal trip down memory lane to discuss the cultural shift that social networking and the World Wide Web has had on communication and relationships. I feel that young professionals in their early 20s have experienced the change most dramatically. Let’s examine the following example:

When I was about 11 years-of-age (1999) my family went on a Backroads trip to celebrate my brother’s Bar-Mitzvah. During the weeklong adventure my 5-person family became close friends with another family from Canada. With children of similar ages, we all socialized during much needed breaks from biking, hiking and kayaking. However, after the last night on Vancouver Island we have had very limited contact.

While my family has received periodic updates from our Canadian friends, I have not personally kept in contact with the middle child, my counter-part. However, if we were to embark on a similar trip this coming holiday season I would, without a doubt, connect and remain in contact with any friends I might acquire throughout my travels via Facebook or some other social network.

Think about it, while past generations might have forgotten the funky secretary you, will always be notified of her status updates and see the photos from her most recent trip to Nantucket!