A new wave of technological gizmo wonders is seen by many as a big help for wellness seekers. New devices are in play by doctors, coaches, health educators and others assisting clients to monitor, track and otherwise document steps toward success at lifestyle changes. The dazzling variety of high tech sensors are often combined with social networks. The combination lends not just for attempting lifestyle changes but, most critically, sustaining those good intentions over time. How long before everyone is living a wellness lifestyle and REAL wellness becomes the new norm for the American people -and everyone else throughout the whole-wide world?
 
Let's review some gizmo advances that have utility for wellness seekers. A  summary of tracking devices was described at the Global Spa Summit in Bali. One speaker,  Marc Smith, gave a talk entitled, "Engaging Business via Technology Sensors - All the Rage!" He described a range of sensors that can be linked with mobile devices (e.g., cell phones) via apps to track health-related activities. These apps are downloaded to a computer, formatted and transmitted to coaches, doctors and, of course, to your social network! Or, you can simply record activities and progress over time for private purposes, like journaling.
 
Here are sample apps:

* Clip on devices with sensors that track movements of such things as calorie intake and your walking or running pace, while recording a wide range of physiological data.

* Devices that transmit encouraging words, that track weight loss (or gain) and show sleep patterns.

* Devices that create food diaries with pictures of each entree - by day/week/etc. (This is something your friends on social network sites will want to see).

* Devices of a medical nature (probably best not to share on Facebook or other social network sites). One such device is called "BodyKey. " You urinate on the device and it diagnoses. (I'm not sure what it diagnoses and, pending unwelcome changes in my health status, I'm not interested. But, anyone who wants to know can look it up.)

* Devices that connect you with others who suffers from or simply have an interest in your condition, providing a virtual support system.

* Devices that enable you to earn badges for one health-related advance or another. These merit badge-like status markers are popular motivational tools.

Google and Microsoft offer free storage for the information these and other devices gather.
 
Wait. Maybe we're getting carried away. Between sensor devices that track nearly everything and social networks that lead some to share too much too often, maybe balance is being lost. Worse, maybe people are becoming a little crazy.
 
Is this really a downside and, if it is, why worry about it? We want people to exercise and eat right and all that, do we not? Even if these cool, high-tech tools exacerbate online social connectedness to the neglect of the other kind, so what? In time, perhaps this virtual zone out will be seen as just a phrase, another stage people go through on their way to getting it all together and living happily ever after. 

Still, the degree people are relating electronically, while opting out in old-fashioned face-to-face interactions, has reached a level no futurist imagined. 
 
Perhaps there might be unrecognized drawbacks to the techo gizmo wonder trends and social networking gone gonzo. Maybe a state of gadget overload has come about. Is there not some danger that the sensors and apps combined with our super-duper connectivity could be short-circuiting our common sense? Might all this virtual activity bring about new problems for which there are no sensors, no apps? Perhaps we're heading toward a massive imbalance between virtual life and actual life.
 
Should we pause before it's too late? Are we sure the gizmo and networking trends are desirable, heading in the right direction at the proper speed? Or, might there be a sharp turn and a steep cliff ahead, with little chance of other than a hard landing to follow?
 
Let's review the situation. How likely is the concern that gizmos and networking could develop into a situation wherein the virtual overwhelms or at least diminishes the real?
 
I understand that some people already spend an inordinate (to me) amount of time doing lots of things of which I don't approve of a real world nature, such as way too much time and emotional attachment to spectator sports, hanging out in saloons and nightclubs, attending Republican rallies and so on. How is excessive virtual living any different? You know, different strokes and all that. Besides, it's not just a social thing. People connecting on Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Twitter, Google+ and so on do so for professional reasons. It's what some do to get ahead, as well as stay connected.
 
Still, at some point, don't you think reason, exuberance, athleticism, liberty and quality of life could suffer?
 
Perhaps a new lifestyle malady may soon be upon us - "networkitis." The possibility leads right to a question, or rather many questions: Can you have too many virtual friends? Can you do too much of virtual good things? When are the Goldilock's spots reached, and what do the overload points look and feel like? How can we know when these markers are reached? Why is excess undesirable? Can harmful levels be validated scientifically?
 
I suppose it's a personal call, though interim criteria awaiting the grand studies 
might be offered. There are such criteria that serve as signs of  dependency on other attractions, such as alcohol consumption and sexual desire. While indicators of "networkitis" will seem subjective and arguable at first, surely our leading social thinkers will soon enough give us signs.
 
There is a related danger, quite the opposite of "networkitis," a malady marked by a steep loss of actual social connectedness due to insufficient virtual connecting. Let's call it "networkectomy." You have experienced a "networkectomy" when your social or professional life suffers due to neglect of your Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Twitter, Google+ and other social networking obligations, expectations and opportunities.
 
You know you have suffered a "networkectomy" when you lose friends, choices, opportunities and experiences. You fall behind on news, gossip and it's plain that nobody is talking about you anymore. As far as the grapevine is concerned, you're practically history. Your entire culture is agog over social networking, including your employer, spouse and children - what made you think you could slack off and get away with it?
 
Well, so far, I'm more concerned about "networkitis" than "networkectomy." I think it's time to slow down, unhook, disconnect and back off. Smell the flowers like you used to, play more music and leave the devices behind more often.
 
Here's an exercise for which you don't need a device or even a computer: write a letter - in long hand, and read an actual book or two (the kind with paper pages that turned by hand).
 
But, don't overdo it. You don't want to lose touch.