Wednesday, August 24, 2011
How many hours is this going to take?
I do not consider myself techonologically inept, but I would say I have treaded lightly into all of the new types of social interaction available. I mean I did not reactivate my facebook profile until two years ago and just checked in to my first place on facebook two weeks ago. I have never used twitter, I read blogs but never thought I would be writing one, and I thought Google+ was still reserved for only important people to try out (not that I am not important). So, needless to say, it took me MANY hours to figure our how to get all of these up and running. I can't even imagine at this point that I will be able to remember all of my passwords, but I definitely feel more blindly socially connected to strangers than ever before. Since I am an MNpS student and not a PAF student, in my classes we speak of how important it is to understand how to use all of these applications, but never get the opportunity to learn how to execute membership to them. I am in one word "overwhelmed." It is a weird feeling waiting for others to accept you on these sites and sharing personal whereabouts with total strangers, but that is basically what social interaction has currently become. I know more about my friends from their facebook updates and check ins than from actual conversations, and I have come to accept that that is perfectly okay. I can actually never talk to a friend and be fully updated on everything relevant that I need to know, and I am sure much more than I need to know by employing these other applications as well. That being said, for the hours and hours it took me to figure this out, will it just shorten the amount of time I need to spend talking to people and looking for current news? And do I really want that?!
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I think you hit the nail on the head with your response, which is, social media platforms are extremely time consuming. Your reaction is similiar to Zach in that you both highlight the possibility of individuals becoming consumed with a virtual world, and perhaps, losing touch with the world that exists outside of social media. Zach is more concrete in this conclusion, but I do see your reaction as implicitly supporting this stance. Zach refers to this interaction of peoples and social media as being that which transforms into a one-dimensional interaction that does not necessarily do much for issues of public participation. For me, I think technology has opened up Pandora's box and we are doomed to become a more disconnected society that lacks the ability to interact with people in person. Already I am seeing the impact of social media on people. Individuals are spending enormous amounts of time on facebook, twitter, and so forth, and they are not having the ability to experience the world around them external to the social media environment. What are the implications for a participatory democracy? I believe that social media has the dangerous potential to inhibit individuals' abilities to gather together and dialogue about their community in a manner that is constructed around a larger community identity. Why do I think this? Well, if we are spedning most of our time engaged in non-human interactions, I question the ability of people to maintain and/or develop a concern for others in a way that is empathetic and identifiable.
ReplyDeleteHello Jessica,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful Blog posting. I identified with multiple reactions you had with navigating through the social media experience and questions about its effects on communication. Specifically, what I began to think about was how this new form of communication removes the standard physical and audio clues that research indicates we focus on in face-to-face communication. For example, body language and tone of voice are replaced by the interjection of symbols such as !, :), :’(, :O, and a host of other creative symbolic gestures. It makes me wonder if this would increase the focus on the actual words utilized and enhance the motivation for our imagination to kick in. However, since the majority of comments I see on social media are twitter-influenced (140 characters or less) I am cynical that the amount of words communicated, coupled with the speed and volume of responses, promote such richness of contemplation. Personally, I find myself engrossed in the email process. I sent over 25 emails yesterday and probably average closer to 35 a day. I hardly think about the response I should provide for more than a couple minutes and at times allow my fingers to deftly stroke out the response while my mind seems to shift into auto-pilot. Well, maybe not complete auto-pilot as it begins thinking about the following task while I habitually check my spelling and tap the send button. My wife said she sent an email to a classmate of hers last semester and he responded: “Let me think about this and I will respond tomorrow.” He did happen to be from another country and I found his response refreshing.
This reminded me of a book passage I enjoy:
“I received your letter of August 29th in Florence and not until now after two months, am I letting you know it. Please excuse my belatedness. I do dislike writing letters when traveling because I need more than the basic writing implements: I need quiet and solitude and at least one friendly hour.”
- Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Thank you for your thought-provoking post Jessica.
Zach (aka BlankOn Purpose)
Zach, I like that you brought up the expected instantaneoueness of responses. I too send and receive emails all day to co workers, friends, family, and schoolmates. I find it irritating that people expect me to answer within in minutes of receiving their messages. It makes it very difficult to not revolve my day around being on my iPhone or sitting at my computer. I do not want to feel like I am letting people down, but by catering to their expectations, I am limiting my daily activities....
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