Monday, October 15, 2018
Connected but Alone: A Response to Sherry Turkle on TED Talk
Recently, my phone was broken, and I went without for several weeks and found the experience freeing. I liked being disconnected and walking down the street, alone with my thoughts and aware that I was completely in the moment. At the same time, I have had experiences like the one Turkle gave with her daughter and her friends, however, I have also sat like that in a chatroom, watching a movie with a dozen other people from all over the world, talking and connecting. I feel as though technology is like having a drink at a bar, it can be a social lubricant, giving you an opportunity (and maybe confidence) to connect with other people, however it can also be dangerous and consuming when it becomes an addiction, leaving you, as Turkle says, isolated.
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I really like how you compare technology to having a drink at a bar, and call them "social lubricants". What immediately comes to my mind is tinder and other dating sites. Text is such a poor method of communication that your message can easily get misconstrued. Whereas at a bar, you can easily read the other person's facial expressions and communicate more effectively. This is another way that "connecting" through technology falls short and leaves us feeling isolated.
ReplyDeleteII think this would be a better argument than the one Turkle gives. You give the good side and the bad side which gives another perspective to the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic analogy. I completely relate to the feeling of freedom from not having your phone by your side. Unfortunately in todays world a lot of jobs and way of life depends on online communication or phones. I think the world needs to take a step back and examine how technology is consuming us. It is possible to live without constant connection to technology as there was no cell phone or internet in generations before us.
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