Argument of Definition: Community While technology is characterized by its exponential growth, humanity and its adaptations and mentality are characterized by a slow, linear progression. And like gears in a car, when the rapidly evolving technology coincides with the slowly progressing social mentalities of humans, many problems can arise. In Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, a book published in 2012, Sherry Turkle unveils problems that unfortunately resulted from the rise of technology. In her book, she specifically addresses the concept and definition of community, and how, in the big picture, the definition of community has shrunk into something that is so trivial that it can be used to describe …show more content…
As a result, she turns to the internet for a “community” where she is able to confess and socialize. While it may seem natural to use community when referring to an “online community”, Turkle disagrees and criticizes Molly for her use of the “community” when referring to online confession sites. Turkle defines community as a place where “one feels safe enough to take the good (opinions) and the bad” and where “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” (Turkle “Seeking Communities” 2012). Although online “communities” may seem to some to fit Turkle’s definition, to Turkle, online “communities” fails to meet Turkle’s criteria/definition; it fails because people are not “willing to hear what [others] have to say”. When interacting online, it is easy to ignore opposing opinions. In addition, Turkle further expand on her definition, stating that “communities are constituted by physical proximity, shared concerns, real consequences, and common responsibilities” – that its members “help each other in the most practical ways” (Turkle “Seeking Communities” 2012). By evaluating Molly’s use of community to describe online confession sites, Turkle asserts that Molly’s use of community does not pertain to her definition of “community”. Online communities are not constituted by physical proximity; concerns, consequences and responsibilities are only experienced by one side of the screen and not by the other members of the
In “Modern Romance,” Celeste Biever describes romantic relationships in the Internet community. She describes how people can romantically be involved on the Internet and how the Internet teaches one to learn about a person from the inside out.In “Cyberspace and Identity,” Sherry Turkle also expresses her interest in the Internet and how it allows for the act of self-exploration. Even though their focus on what the Internet is used for are different from the perspective of one another, Biever and Turkle both see the Internet as a place for exploration in a general sense.
She recalls a disagreement that took place on Facebook between her and a close friend over a few comments placed on her timeline. Wortham describes how she felt embarrassed over the pointless argument. She discloses “I’m the first one to confess my undying love of the Web’s rich culture and community, which is deeply embedded in my life. But that feud with a friend forced me to consider that the lens of the Web might be warping my perspective and damaging some important relationships” (171). Introducing her personal feelings and perspective of how she feels Facebook is taking over her own emotional response online weakens her argument. Wortham reasons that others feel the same as she does. She says, “This has alarmed some people, convincing them that it’s time to pull the plug and forgo the service altogether” (171). Wortham does not bring in other testimonies of those who feel the same as she does, therefore the readers are only introduced to her personal
The topic of technology and our society has become a very controversial subject today. Many people believe that technology is an essential component of our modern world, helping us to improve communication from farther distances as well as giving us easy access to important information. On the other hand, there is the opinion that too much technology is affecting social interactions and our basic development. “Technology…is a queer thing, it brings you great gifts with one hand, and stabs you in the back with the other.” (Carrie Snow.) The CBC Documentary “Are We Digital Dummies” displayed the pros and cons when it comes to modern technology that we use in the western world everyday.
She states, “On the contrary, teenagers report discomfort when they are without their cellphones” (240). Turkle explains that without their only source of feeling connected, teenagers feel anxious and alone. Teens see technology as their only source of connection with the rest of the world. In addition, without technology, teenagers seem uncertain as to how to respond in certain situations, creating a much greater problem than just the feeling of loneliness. It affects their social skills and ability to interact with others in various surroundings. The desire to try new things and meet new people is also affected, because teens are so occupied with the social life they have created through technology. It's their comfort zone. Furthermore, in her story, Turkle expands on the term of the collaborative self. She does so when she states, “Again, technology, on its own, does not cause this new way of relating to our emotions and other people” (242). Turkle describes that technology is not to blame for the way people connect with others in the world today. She explains it is the responsibility of the individuals using the technology to use it appropriately. It is a great learning tool. However, too much technology may cause harm. It is up to the individual as to how and when to use it. For example, the internet is a great resource, but used in excess may cause more harm than good. In some
Sherry Turkle, a dedicated author and well-known professor of Social Studies of Science and Technology, in her essay, “The Flight from Conversation,” implies that using technology for a majority of daily communication has become an significantly negative factor in society. Turkle supports this claim by revealing her own professional research on the topic along with descriptions from personal experiences. Her purpose is to help readers realize the abundant amounts of time that people waste on their devices for communication instead of choosing face to face sentimental contact. She disclosed a concerning tone for society’s decrease in social skills due to its obsessions with technology, for an audience who participates daily in using telecommunications. Turkle’s writing is implausibly effective, causing the readers to reevaluate the true importance of face to face contact and value personal communication.
The evolution of technology has had a great impact on our lives, both positive and negative. While it is great to be able to be able to travel faster and research anything with the smartphones that now contain almost every aspect of our daily lives, there are also many advances within the realm of technology. Nicholas Carr presents information on the dependency aircraft pilots have on automated technology used to control airplanes in the article “The Great Forgetting”. Likewise, in “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” written by Stephen Marche, the result of isolation and pseudo relationships created by social media is shown throughout the article. We live in such a fast paced society with so much information at our fingertips that we don’t make
Sherry Turkle’s article in The New York Times “The Flight From Conversation”, she disputes that we need to put down the technology and rehabilitate our ability to converse with other human beings because we are replacing deep relationships with actual people for casual encounters on technology. Turkle tries to convince young and middle age individuals who are so enthralled by the technology that they are losing the ability to communicate in a public setting. Sherry Turkle unsuccessfully persuades her audience to put down the technology and engage with others in public through her strong logos appeal that overpowers her weak logos and doesn’t reliably represent herself and her research.
...been put on the technological platform itself and the infrastructure of it, and too little on the social and cultural context of the citizens and users. Communtes basically can not be created with technology if the social and cultural networks are not there, and if users do not see the benefit or are not motivated for using the technology” (Bondebjerg 9)
Community is like a Venn diagram. It is all about relations between a finite group of people or things. People have their own circles and, sometimes, these circles overlap one another. These interceptions are interests, common attitudes and goals that we share together. These interceptions bond us together as a community, as a Venn diagram. A good community needs good communication where people speak and listen to each other openly and honestly. It needs ti...
In an article entitled “The positive and negative implications of anonymity in Internet social interactions: On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog”, Christopherson states that the nature of the Internet coupled with the anonymity it offers makes it a safe place for catharsis, “the unhindered expression of thoughts and feelings to others,” without the fear of being socially evaluated by others (3041). With a Washington Post article entitled “Cyber-Catharsis: Bloggers Use Web Sites as Therapy” Noguchi reports that blogging enables people to broach difficult subjects with loved ones, as well as gain support from a virtual community of people they don't know (par.
Imagine two people are arguing; one person is clearly right, but the other person is obviously winning. Why is this? People that make convincing arguments are usually the ones who can vouch for their character and make the audience think that they should believe them. Along with making people think they are trustworthy they must also appeal to human emotion. Change the way they feel and it will change the way they think. Finally, the argument must be reasonable and logical to the people who need convincing. The person who wins the argument isn’t always right, but they were able to convince an audience that they were by vouching for their character, appealing to human emotion, and by creating a reasonable and logical justification. In the essay,
Ideas and social networking has evolved to fight the constant moral erosions and sense of obligation that ceased to exist in many American communities and small towns. Community is the idea of guardianship and service outside of oneself; therefore, it is in direct opposition to greed and the self-preservation movement of me, myself, and I.
I aimlessly wondered the Internet trying to find a community suitable for me. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. I have many interests, but I really don’t have a strong passion for something. So I decided to join a community in which I could express myself as a teen and talk about general issues. I joined the mtv.com community. There I expressed my thoughts on everything, ranging from music to daily events that shape our world. There I had a chance to share my opinions and beliefs, as others posted their thoughts and perspectives on certain subjects. Online communities are rather congruent to offline ones. They are both appealing yet displeasing at the same time.
The Role of Community in Society Communities are an essential part of our society, because we all depend and interact with each other. Communities are groups of people that help an individual to learn and develop new ideas. A society is where people’s relations with each other are direct and personal and where a complex web of ties link people in mutual bonds of emotion and obligation. The idea of community has provided a model to contrast to the emergence of more modern less personal societies where cultural, economic and technological transformations have uprooted tradition and where complexity has created a less personal and more rationalized and goal directed social life.
Consider a situation where a family is sitting at the dining table, the son pull out his iPhone, connects to Wi-Fi, and starts chatting with his friends on “Facebook”. The father has a Samsung Galaxy S4 in his hands and he is reading the newspaper online and using “Whatsapp” messenger while having his meal. The mother is busy texting her friends. They are all “socializing” but none of them has spoken as much as a single word to each other. This situation can be commonly seen nowadays. Technology has brought us closer and squeezed the distances but in reality, it has taken us away from each other. The rapid growth of technology has brought about significant changes in human lives, especially in their relationships. The latest technologies have turned this world into a “global village” but the way humans interact with each other, the types of relations and their importance has changed a lot. The advancement in technology has brought us close but has also taken us apart.