Alone Together Chapter 10

For some reason there is an illusion of privacy obtained to those when using any form of electronic media. Media that may include phone calls, text messages, or email take on the assumption that whomever the message is being sent to is the only one receiving the message. This is however a huge misconception especially with all the tools electronic media provides to share a message with multiple people with tools such as the speakerphone, copy and paste, and the ability to forward emails.  These capabilities allow people to share messages with as many people as they desire to see them. What chapter ten, in Alone Together, suggests is that electronic media “levels the playing field” among all social types whether a person be shy or outgoing.

Electronic media is the only way shy people are able to open up, as it allows them time to think and edit what they want to say to people. It is a place for these individuals to reflect, retype, and edit. Most people, without realizing it, avoid talking on the phone with people because it is too revealing. Conversations on the telephone are almost feared because it does not give people a place to “hide” behind their phones or computers.  Phone conversations are also thought to take too long and when a person wants a quick question answered they will use the text or email medium before picking up the phone to call that person for a solution. People also find themselves texting and email versus phone conversations because it gives them more control over the conversation. This control allows people to control the topics discussed and how long the conversations last without being considered rude.

One of the topics discussed in this chapter refers to a young girl using her cell phone with her divorced parents. This teenage girl says her parents use each other and her cell as “instant messenger.” The daughter is ultimately becoming their “IM,” and I can totally relate to this example that Turkle uses. I first got a cell phone when I was a freshman in high school and once I got it my relationship with both parents completely altered. Both my parents would call me asking to relay a message to the other instead of talking directly to each other. My father would also always be on the phone when picking me up, along with so many other kids growing up in this world controlled by technology, but this was ten years ago. He did this when there were no such things as smart phones, iPads, and a time when laptops were not as common. Now with parents having even more ways to stay connected with work all the time I can’t imagine how difficult it is to truly leave work at home. I commend those parents that truly stay tuned into their children’s lives while balancing a career. It is those that make time for both that reap the most joys in life. 

So we just began reading this book called “Alone Together,” by Sherry Turkle. I don’t believe I have every truly enjoyed reading something so much for a class. Its not difficult to understand and extremely interesting to see how much the internet and constant so called need to be connected to the internet affects our everyday lives.

In a world filled with unlimited possibilities, thanks to technology, more and more people are becoming consumed with their lives “online.” There is a constant need to be connected to the Internet at all times whether it be for email, social media, or even virtual online worlds. With mobile devices, there is the capability of being online, connected, and available to people at all times. People are able to drift in and out of the real world and even have multiple worlds to be a part of. They can be with you physically but also be somewhere else as well at the same time. The book refers to this in the sense that “we have moved from multitasking to multilifing.”

Turkle mentions this interesting fact that “mobile technology has made each of us ‘pauseable.’” Our face-to-face interactions are routinely interrupted by phone calls and text messages and it has quickly become a norm in society. I caught myself doing this multiple times today whether it be answering a phone call during a conversation or even glancing at my phone for a text message.

Another topic that caught my attention was when Turkle was discussing a trip to Paris she took with her daughter. She noticed how often her daughter was on her phone and discussing things from back home. Her daughter was unable to embrace the French culture and be mentally present versus holding on to her culture at home. Turkle says, “On vacation, one vacates a place, not a set of responsibilities.” She questions whether people can leave their home behind while traveling instead of bring it all over the world. This is harder said than done. Thinking back on my recent vacations I always bring my laptop and, of course, my cell phone to stay connected with my friends and keep up to date with stuff going on at home. It is becoming more and more easy to find access to Internet connection. An example of this would be Wi-Fi now being offered in airplanes thousands of feet in the air.  

In world that is obsessed with being “online,” its almost impossible to be successful without immediate access to your email, text messages, and even social media sites. People’s expectations are becoming extremely high for fast responses to their messages. “Technology sets expectations about speed,” which leaves little time for thorough, thought out solutions or answers to issues discussed in the initial message. So while people are obtaining quick responses they are giving up possible better solutions that could be determined with more time to think properly about a given situation. They settle for speed and lack quality of a response.  

Cybercultures. When I think of cybercultures I mainly think of Second Life, Sims, and other worlds where people can be whoever they want to be. That power to be able to choose what you look like and what you do can be very addicting to users that live vicariously through these cyber worlds. These cultures are now accessible within seconds at palm of our hands with our mobile phones. Our cell phones are the terminals to the Internet and are the extension to any cyberculture of our choice.

When I was younger I used to play the Sims game on my computer all the time, so I can see the fun and addicting ways to become enthralled in a world that is not considered reality. For most cyberculture users today, however, their reality is in these chat rooms and worlds on the Internet. Therefore, your personal reality can be wherever you make it and is not clearly defined for all but individually defined.

A perfect example of people living multiple lives, thanks to the Internet, is situation that occurred in my family a few years ago. My Aunt began participating in a chat room that led her to forming a relationship with a man who was not my Uncle. This went on for a few months and eventually she decided to leave my Uncle and her four kids to move to Canada, where her new cyber friend lives. She had never met this man before and left her family to move to a different country to be with him. This just shows that people can form strong relationships and different lives using the Internet and certain cybercultures. Sometimes, in my Aunt’s case, these cyber lives and relationships follow into their lives away from the Internet.

The biggest thing I took from reading chapter one from the Nayer book is that technology is neither a cause nor effect of culture but is both. It is combined, defined, and chosen by the culture that creates it.  

The digital culture continues to mold society into whatever it wants society to become. Technology has opened us up to a more vocal and participatory culture than ever before. It gives people a platform to share their culture with the rest of the world and allows everyone to have a voice to be heard. 

When looking at my own life, I realized that the digital culture plays crucial roles in my everyday routines. Most all the information I obtain I get from my iPhone. I check my social media sites, email, online banking, and much more multiple times a day. My social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, I check somewhere around three or four times a day. This makes me wonder though if that is a typical number or if that may be considered a low amount. One of my roommates checks her Facebook around the same number of times I do and my other roommate checks hers around five to six times a day. I also have become quite infatuated with the new social media site called pinterest. It is basically a network where people bookmark pictures from any site onto their pinterest boards. In my opinion it is for women but guys might have fun browsing the home decor, wedding ideas, and recipes also, who knows. I have also become part of the e-reader world after getting a Nook for Christmas. E-readers such as the Nook and Kindle, have taken the publishing world by storm. Ebook sales have been going no where but up. 

The digital culture is one that is constantly changing and one that is also instantly changing society by the minute. Something that can alter a society so quickly is definitely something to try to understand and keep up with.