Written vs Oral Language - Part 2

I'd like to start out by saying this is definitely on the "heavy" reading side of things.  After sifting through the extremely long sentence-paragraphs, it's clear that Ong is able to draw a (clear?) picture of what writing has done for humanity. It made language "personal" and intimate.

While the world owes a huge debt to the semitic languages that first invented writing, it was the Greeks who kicked it up a notch by adding vowels, making reading and writing much more phonetic.  This invention or adaptation of writing paved the way for everything since. Although I disagree with his concept of democratizing language (just ask the peasants in the middle ages), it did indeed take us, as a world, to the next level.

Ong discusses how written language has allowed us to privatize language and make it our own.  Over time, we shifted from reading aloud to reading alone.  What was once a communal language shifted to an individual language that was shared through writing.

Fast forward to modern society today.  Ong writes about the benefits, which are many, including this blog post.  However, I believe that writing might actually have a few downsides.  If the saying, "ignorance is bliss" has any truthful connotations, is it possible that we're actually moving towards information overload?  What about how, as a society, people feel more distanced and isolated than ever before?  Let me explain.

First, with our constant technological advances, we find ourselves (at least those with the means to do so) barraged with information.  Newspapers, text messages, chatrooms, web pages, television, radio... it goes on and on.  It is almost impossible in today's technologically oriented world to not be fully inundated from morning until night.   Is it possible to get too much?  Is it possible that in our constant struggle to improve our efficiency in communication, that we've overexposed ourselves?

Second, if, information and communications are at an all-time high (and they are), then how can people, with technology that allows anyone to connect to anyone else in at least 5 different ways instantly, feel so isolated and lonely?

I don't have the answers, and in fact, the more I think about it, the more questions I have.  Perhaps we'll delve into this in class at some point.