Here's a technophobe story for you: someone at my school does not own a cell phone, and refuses for all intents and purposes to go out and purchase one.
That person is me. I have never sent a text message in my entire life.
Do I feel I am being left in the dust? Not at all. Do I feel as if people who own and use cell phones in an excessive manner are "sad?" Yes, a little. Would I purchase and begin to use a cell phone were it required for a job? Absolutely.
I think the above feelings are fairly mutual. In your case, you find the people who don't, or refuse not to, use certain technology at a disadvantage in competing in the world. You don't find you're missing out too much not doing what these technophobes might be doing more often. For example, as you put it, going to the "cloob."
And therefore, I do not believe that learning how to use a computer, a cell phone, twitter, facebook, google, or any other number of things is necessary, especially at a young age. Is it helpful? Of course--learning anything is helpful in some respect.
However, that doesn't mean one will fall behind without this technology. You can get used to your situation and adapt accordingly without certainly technology. You've adapted to not need to be as social or extroverted (based on your post) in order to make it through the day. Others take the opposite approach--they've adapted to be more social and outgoing and thus don't find much new technology relevant.
But in either case, new skills can be learned, if required. You're only at a disadvantage if the certain skill is absolutely necessary for your job, daily life, and so on. Since you reguarly use the Internet and a computer, it seems obvious to you that one would need to use these things all the time. Likewise, I know people who regularly use a cell phone, and have commented on how they wouldn't be able to make it through the day without one. I make it through my day just fine. Depending on how you plan to live, new popular technology may or may not be needed.
