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.