Chapter 12

Why is it so attractive and addicting for people to put extremely personal confessions on the Internet? There are multiple websites for people to choose from when sharing these private revelations such as PostSecret, GroupHug, and even popular social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. All throughout this chapter Turckle discusses why people are sucked into this new obsession and what resolutions they get after partaking in this act. It’s as if, Turckle suggests, “online confessions are a new genre” of writing altogether. “Exaggeration might increase readership,” which implies that a lot of these online confessional sites are mainly for entertainment. Here are some interesting examples PostSecrets I found.

Some participants are seeking acceptance after getting their secrets out in the open. There is a sense of relief that users feel after getting things off their chest that they may have been too scared to express in face to face interactions with friends or family. This makes me question why people are drawn more towards interacting with strangers online about their darkest secrets versus their family and friends that they may physically see on a daily basis.  In my opinion people in society are too judgmental and opinionated to accept other people’s beliefs and values. In a world that is so diversely populated and filled with various religious beliefs we have to find ways to live peacefully with one another and respect each other’s views.

While technology is providing more ways to interact and communicate with more people it is crippling society in face-to-face human interaction. People don’t know how to handle confrontation anymore and resolve to dealing with difficult situations in text or email. There is no accountability when taking responsibility for an individual’s own actions. The Internet allows people who struggle with this to apologize or confess to something online but not to the person who might need to hear it. This lack of physical interaction among individuals takes away from relationships, as it is less personal when communicating through the Internet. Its almost as if these online confessions are a temporary emotional fix, allowing users to steer away from the true issue.

Online confessions I believe to be both positive and negative. It can be positive for those that are scared to admit something about themselves to family and friends but and can practice it on various Internet sites. It can give people a sense of security knowing that they are displaying anonymous posts where readers cannot trace it back to them.

I really liked how Turckle suggests forming more communities is somewhat a solution to encourage people to express their feelings in person to family and friends. She defines a community as a, “a place where one feels safe enough to take the good and the bad. In communities, others come through for us in hard times, so we are willing to hear what they have to say, even if we don’t like it.” In order to form these communities Turckle is describing, people need to trust others and feel as though they will not be judged. It is up to us to change society’s path it is currently on that will eventually do away with human interaction and replace it with online platforms for communication.