I came late to this via a circuitous route, so please forgive me if this is no longer relevant to join into. However, I’d like to add two comments.

First, as several people have said, Turkle does seem to make some telling points but as you say Dave, hankering for a halcyon and likely imaginary past is not really helpful. I’m reminded of a study I read moons ago where the author traced back claims about ‘youth being better and better disciplined in my grandfather’s day’ and found that the grandfather said that too … and his, and his, all the way back at least as far as Plato. So pointing out wryly that ‘nostalgia is not what it used to be’ is a fair call. And seeing, as you and others do, that social media have an upside is right. I may be nearer 70 than any other round number but I like Facebook, etc…

Second, a slightly different point. Rather than arguing the toss over our ideas about real conversation, let’s ask what the literature says. Here I think that without fully taking Turkle’s side I want to be a bit cautionary about people getting over excited about electronic communication models. I strongly recommend the work of Garrod and Pickering on (e.g.) “Why conversation is easy”. (It’s worth a Google). These guys show how, over evolution, we humans have developed a repertoire of skills that make face-to-face communication easier and more interconnected than other modes. If we neglect that, and rely too much on the electronic (rather than having both and a balance, which is what I think you are arguing for, Dave) we risk emptiness. The sociologist George Simmel distinguished intimate relations (‘you are irreplaceable to me’) from sociality (high inter-changeability as with those we chatter to at cocktail parties).

What Turkle points to, I think, is a danger that massive sociality cannot replace intimacy. Like her, it does somewhat bother me when I walk a beautiful beach here in Australia and cross paths with people who instead of exchanging a glance, a nod and probably a cheery, “Good day” are plugged into the iPod, texting or talking on the phone. They may think they are connected but I think they are kidding themselves …