Offline Life : Instant Message Virtual Universe

Social media and technology has improved the ability to stay connected with each other from far distances. In the article “Text or Talk: Is Technology Making You Lonely? By Margie Warrell” the author states “ online technology is a magnificent tool for staying in touch with people across miles time zones and years.” In

In the article “The IRL Fetish” by Nathan Jergenson, is a powerful essay that demonstrates the idea of this so called “Fetish” that we have with technology today. Within this essay Jergenson uses specific word choice in his essay to strengthen his argument about being connected. He uses quotes from other speakers and writers to get his points acrossed about this fetish that we have in our society right now. Finally, Jergenson also talks about the little victories that we have with technology, like “logging off”, and the irrational fear that we have about being disconnected.

The relationship between people has been changed because of the widely using of new technology. People can easily communicate with other people by using different kinds of methods. Because of the use of those methods, people have more space with others and frequently hide part of themselves on the Internet in order to show the best of them. In the essay “Small Change: Why he Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, Malcolm Gladwell states that the relationship between people can be categorized by strong ties and weak ties. For example, in the past, people communicated by the method of interpersonal hierarchies, which are considered as strong ties. However, with the development of technology, social network, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Skype, which have become very popular in the world, are regarded as weak ties. Moreover, in the essay “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle claims that people are distant with others and get lost in the virtual world through the new technology. She points out that now people communicate with others through technology instead of directing talking to real people. Furthermore, some people suppose that sociable robots as substitutes for people. Both Gladwell and Turkle agree with the idea that technology plays an important role on people’s connection. Technology only creates inauthentic relationship because it hides identity of many disorganized people.

Today’s young adults have a lack of communication with friends and family because of technology such as social media, video games or television. In our society, parlor walls can be seen as those commodities. The large flat screen tv’s or IPads are today’s enthusiast. “Social media in our country and the globalizing world has become the voice, eye, ear, heart, and memory of the individuals. It has aspects which strengthen, weaken and include communication between the individuals and also it provides convenience for time and place.” This, according to TNS Digital Life Research that carried out a study in 2011 and held 1.938.059.098 people that were online. Researchers were able to test how many people prefer to communicate through social media or rather be involved in some sort of social media instead of actually going out and interacting. These studies show and give a glimpse of how many people are more interested to spend time on social media instead of building new relationships. Bradbury’s society and our society and similar because of the lack of communication we have because of some aspects of technology that are similar, which are the parlor walls and social media, television and video games.

In “Kiki Kannibal: The Girl Who Played With Fire,” Sabrina Rubin Erdely highlights the dangers involved with an online persona. In the article, Kiki creates an online persona in the hopes of finding friends. She makes a major mistake when she portrays herself as older and more outgoing then she really is. Those mistakes initially led to insults and threats, but eventually led vandalism and rape. The article is a little dated as the dangers involved with an online persona were not as well known. However, there are several lessons from the article that are relevant today. An online persona can be beneficial and enjoyable as long as the creator keeps a few rules in mind. In order for an online persona to be beneficial you must be mature enough to handle criticism and recognize a threat that you should take seriously. Your persona should closely resemble who you really are, and it should enhance a part of your life and not take it over.

Facebook, in particular, is the target of this article, with its enormous audience, Facebook is the go-to website to see the latest gossip, get in touch with everyone, and be in touch with everyone. So a lot of people give up face-to -face to talk with each other instead using the Facebook or any other technology. The research put into the lonely topic consists of psychologist’s opinions and real events. For example, the books Sherry Turkle wrote like “Life on the screen” and “Alone together” can see how serious the impact is.

Thompson states, “Social scientists have a name for this sort of incessant online contact. They call it ‘ambient awareness.’ It is, they say, very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood through little things he does-body language, sighs, stray comments-out of the corner of your eye.”(545) This idea of ambient awareness not only lets social media users have true conversations in person, but also true, sometimes more intimate, conversations

Today, anyone can rekindle old flames with social media or update their status to keep distant friends close at heart. Somehow, Maggie Jackson sees facilitated communication as “clashing streams of rapid-fire imagery, floating in limitless cyber-worlds” that loosen any grip on intimacy (546). It’s understandable that face to face moments are deemed an essential aspect of connectivity. Still, a digital barrier seems minute in many circumstances. Every year college students drift far from home in the pursuit of higher education. For most, leaving family behind is extremely difficult and can even hinder the way a student manages emotions. With powerful tools like Skype and instant messaging, communication isn’t so difficult. Although looking at a screen isn’t “the real thing”, it allows people to feel closer and connected. A few glances at funny pics of mom or a second to see what a friend posted about their life back home can give a feeling of comfort to those that need it. This is progress. This is proof of successful innovation. Yes, focus is briefly split into “alternative virtual universes” but the benefits of cyber-mingling far outweigh the small cost of attention (Jackson 547). Focus dispersed between real and computerized life should be seen as a positive symbol of cultural

People are becoming busier as the technology developed, they use technology to work and live. As they access the technology, they would like to use imagination to create a virtual world and stay away from the real world. In the article “ Alone Together” written by Sherry Turkle, she argues that technology create imagination would affect the whole society in the virtual world and authenticity. She talks that technology developed makes human doute about intimacy, connectivity, authenticity and solitude. However, which is also happened on busyness. As human are busier than before, they begin to think about their imaginary playmate. In the article” Bumping Into Mr. Ravioli” by Adam Gopnik, he talks about his daughter’s imaginary friend Charlie

Interacting with other people can difficult and at times even unpleasant, but at the end of the day it is a task everyone has to overcome, or not. In Alone Together Turtkle writes of how we have come to readily accept a more technological based world saying, “ Technology is seductive when what it offers meets our human vulnerabilities” (263 Turkle). Today technology allows its users to communicate with others without ever having to see their face via text or email, meeting the vulnerability of being awkward and boring during a conversation in real life. Yet, avoiding actual interaction with people diminishes a persons social intelligence, making a conversing with others all the more difficult as they can no longer rely on the controlled atmosphere of messaging system and have to deal with unexpected questions and topics. Moreover, in the same article Turtle discuses the younger generation aversion to human interaction, she write, “ Teenagers avoid making telephone calls, fearful that they ‘reveal too much’. They would rather text than talk”( Turtle 272). Technology provides a controlled environment in which one decides to what degree he or she would like to interact with other, but this is not how the real world works. One can text answers for a job interview or email the news of a sick relative, somethings have to be done in person. Accordingly, in Tough’s article social intelligence is defined as, “ the ability to recognize interpersonal dynamics and adapt quickly to different social situations”( Tough 2). Online users do not exhibit social intelligence, the online domain is posses no new social situations to adapt to, is something makes one uncomfortable or annoyed they can simply “x” out of a window or go to another website. Increased reliance on technology will hinder the development of character, especially social

For the young generation, in particular, the online relationships are as influential and evocative as the face-to-face relationships. In addition, as broadcasting and broadband technologies are being accessed by more and more people, the swiftness and suppleness with which the world inhabitants are communicating and socializing (both online and offline) is increasing day by day. As far as the virtual space is

Second messenger systems ultimately bring about the desired cell responses by inducing a change in the shape and function of particular intracellular proteins (True or false)

Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Instagram, and Flicker was invented to keep us in touch and keep us closer to our family and friends. But according to How Facebook ruins Friendships “we took our friendship online” (Bernstein). First we began communicating more by email than by phone and then switched to instant messaging or texting. By joining social Medias online

Face-to-face communication seems to be a dying art – replaced by text messaging, e-mails, and social media. Human communication and interactions are shaped by available technologies.

There are dangers of online communication such as social networks where users can lie about who they are [4]“Megan thought she was being abused by 16-year-old Josh Evans, she was actually talking to Lori Drew, the 49-year-old mother of one of her former friends who, it is alleged, had set up a fake profile to taunt Megan.” in social networking sites it is very easy for people to