By: Sam Bouchat
A new book has struck up new controversy, as all good books should, claiming that social networking and technology, rather than connecting people, are isolating us. “Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other” by MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that technology is dominating us so completely as a culture that we are, in fact, becoming less human. Technology, she claimed last week while promoting her book on The Colbert Report, has a time and a place, and that our generation can no longer distinguish it.
While I understand where this view comes from, that “there are times and there are places where we need to give each other our full attention,” I will have to agree with Mr. Colbert, who countered with an accusatory, “Says you!” What Ms. Turkle does not seem to realize is that there is no longer such a thing as “full attention.” We do not a solid block of attention; rather, we have pieces, districts if you will, of attention. Our generation has grown up being bombarded on all sides with technology, from the tv to cell phones to computers. We are the most multitasking generation to exist thus far on Earth.
Yes, there is a time and a place for everything. What isn’t spoken is the idea that that time and place is everywhere at anytime. It’s not a matter of alienation, but, rather, a matter of etiquette. One shouldn’t text at a funeral, or while in a deep conversation with a person standing in front of them, or at the dinner table. That goes without saying. But the difference lies in the fact that, while technology shouldn’t be used in those situations, doing so doesn’t isolate us. Technology isn’t taking away from conversation, but making it more convenient. Rather than making our generation lazier, it is instilling in us confidence to voice ourselves that we would otherwise have never gained.
I would never have been a journalist if things like social networks, cell phones and email didn’t exist, not because I’m lazy and don’t want to get off my fat ass to interview someone, but because knowing that they’re there gives me the means to swallow my deep and ever-present shyness, contact a source and, with a renewed faith in my own ability to voice myself, have a meaningful face-to-face conversation.
Just because we don’t have to jump into the freezing deep end of the stranger meet-stanger socializing pool doesn’t mean we’re isolated. It doesn’t mean we’re lazy. It means that we can start in shallow waters and work our way forward at our own pace. This means that because of technology, at the end of the day more people will be in the deep end than ever before, talking, debating and socializing.
Yes, some people may see that as being ‘alone,together,’ but it isn’t so. Just take Stephen Colbert’s advice, and change your facebook status to “adandoned.”