When I was writing the book, a colleague at work wisely told me that she thought the aha moment for this generation will be when they finally decide to unplug. While there are many benefits to all of the technology this generation has grown up using, there are pitfalls to being hyper-connected or constantly tethered through a device. Just today Reuters reported that Internet addiction is growing among U.S. adults.

Jim Taylor a marketing consultant from the Harrison Group, was sharing their latest research at a conference I attended this week called What Teens Want. He touched on this issue when he explained that that the constant sharing about what you're doing all the time via technology is having the effect of making all moments all equally important. He said there is slippage in the ability to discriminate about when it's appropriate to share or communicate, i.e, teens don't know the meaning of the word "shut up." I would amend this to say that they just don't know when to shut it off.

Martha Irvine, who writes for the Associated Press, recently wrote a story on the beginning of what may be a saturation point, at least on the college level...at least with one student who decides to unplug from social networking and focus on his face-to-face friendships.

I think we are far from this generation reaching a collective aha moment, but I think teens who have been burned on MySpace or by cyberbullying or even just cyberdrama, are likely to cut back after an incident. I also think some parents are starting to try to put limits on their children's screen time and push them to go outside and play or read a book.

To me it's all about balance (yes, I'm a Libra) -- anything in excess is unhealthy, including technology. Even with all of the positive aspects of teens being online (meeting diverse friends from all over the world, overcoming shyness, trying on different identities, endless discovery and learning), it's important to also be in the non-digital, non-virtual world. The difference between an emoticon and seeing your friend crack up at your joke is huge.

Or as Meghan, one of the teens I interviewed for the book (who is now in college) said:

"I try to experience the world as more than a screen. I don't spend a lot of time in front of the computer, I try not to. I try to be outdoors as much as possible because that's what's important to me. I listen to music on my player and everything but I try to go to concerts -- to shows as much as possible. I have loads of friends in bands, I've been in three or four bands."

I think it's important for parents to help teens find this balance and explain why it's important -- and guess what, you don't have to be totally wired to do it.