Reading Reflection #5

Friday, April 19, 2019

Lucky to have some “free” time to get schoolwork done at the office!

In part two of her book, Turkle discusses the evolution of “the Net” and how humans are increasingly networked. She focuses mainly on individuals who were born in the late 80s and early 90s (frequently referred to as Millenials). I found many of her comments, interviews, and observations interesting because I am in the age group of the individuals she focuses on.

One of the main themes Turkle touches on during this second part of the book is how humans have transitioned to text-based communication instead of voice communication, such as phone calls. She focuses on the phenomenon of how Millenials, and older generations alike, have found new freedom in this way of communicating, but also find themselves more tethered. She makes several observations that I can relate to. With the ability to communicate via text and other similar methods, we feel as though we are always “on call.” We are expected, and we expect others, to always be available. We expect quick responses to communications such as text and email.

She also comments how even though we are increasingly connected to the online world, we have simultaneously become increasingly disconnected with other humans. We have come to prefer the disconnect, because we can be in control of our reactions and communications. A phone call for instance, means you have to be available on the spot, you have to come up with unplanned responses and portray uncontrolled emotions. Many individuals that Turkle researched expressed that they don’t have time for this kind of communication anymore. Basically, it’s burdensome and inefficient. I found myself in agreement with this. I can text back and fourth while I get groceries, or respond to an email while I walk on the treadmill. I wouldn’t otherwise be available to address these communications via phone call. Many of the individuals she interviews agree, however, that sometimes a phone call is more appropriate to communicate certain messages. I would also agree with this.

I have to agree that it does make one feel anxious to be “on call” all the time. In my role as an educator, students will send emails at every hour of the day. In our student handbook we’ve had to create set hours for when students can expect faculty to respond. Essentially, we are not required to respond outside of business hours.. but most of us still do. We feel obligated. Because we can, we feel like we should. Some faculty have even gone so far as to take their email app off of their phones, because they couldn’t stop themselves from reading and responding to the notifications.

Turkle also discusses in depth the relationship the Millenial generation has developed with social media. Most of her observations take place what I would estimate to be between 10-15 years ago, when online interaction and social media were really starting to gain momentum. I was the same age as many of the subjects she observed and interacted with during this time. I found myself relating to many of the circumstances she described. However, I feel that human relationships with social media have already evolved significantly since the time these observations were made. Which speaks to how quickly the relationship between humans and technology changes.

As a psychoanalyst, by nature Turkle is highly critical of the relationship the Millenial generation has established with digital communication and social media. I found her remarks to be quite truthful, for the time in which they were written. In the last 5 years or so, I have seen a shift in the paradigm of humans and social media. I am quite active on most forms of social media, but not particularly interactive. I scroll through feeds and post pictures of travel, send personal Snapchat pictures to friends, or direct messages to friends on Instagram. I find, however, that most individuals from my generation don’t use platforms such as Facebook for actual interaction anymore. In my feed it feels like this platform has been taken over by generations older than me. I don’t know if younger generations even use Facebook anymore. I use it very little for actual interaction, and even then it’s because my family wants to see pictures of what I’m up to. Recently, I went on a trip to visit a couple close friends. My grandmother endlessly messaged me asking for pictures. But I wasn’t really “doing” anything on my trip, just spending time with my friends. We started taking pictures just to post to appease my grandmother. We jokingly called it “going it for the Gram,” which is a play on words from “doing it for the ‘gram,” (what people say when they’re specifically documenting something to post on Instagram).

I feel that Facebook has mostly been taken over by my family members of older generations. I mostly use Instagram and Snapchat to communicate with my closest friends. Here, thankfully, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. are mostly absent. I’m free to communicate with my close friend group, without awkward injections from older family members. Turkle cites a 2009 article that reported individuals age 35-44 were the fastest growing demographic on Facebook. Fast forward 10 years, and I think this remains true, certainly encompassing even older generations. In my opinion, what becomes problematic about this, is that these generations didn’t grow up with technology as the norm. They didn’t learn social media etiquette and norms. These are generations that highly criticize Millenials for lack of life and social skills, but start Facebook arguments over photoshopped pictures of Presidents without batting an eye that it actually might be something entirely fake that they’re sharing.

I found many of Turkles observations interesting, and they certainly made me reflect on my own relationship with technology and social media. It also helps me recognize what kinds of relationships my students might have with these technologies. I work with a wide age group of learners, so I need to be informed about their relationships and comfort levels with digital platforms. I have found that a few of the recent chapters in Alone Together have been redundant, and I hope that there will be more exploration as I finish up the book. The theme of the last few chapters has basically been, humans are more connected through technology, but less connected in their actual person to person interactions. I definitely think there is truth to this, but I don’t think it’s necessarily problematic. I think that it’s just how communication is evolving, as it has continued to evolve for centuries. Sometimes it feels like Turkle’s analysis of this changing relationship is just a nostalgia for older times. I think it’s important to understand how communication is evolving, but I don’t find it’s worth reminiscing over. We’re not going to un-evolve in our communication technique, I think this is just the way of the future.