Technology Is Too Cheap By Henry David Thoreau

The image of ideal families has changed and is now looked at differently compared to years ago. But does technology and devices how to do with the separation of family? In a short story in Rereading America called “Quality Time Redefined”, author Alex Williams executes many interviews to try and see how media has impacted the lives of family. According to one of his observations there was one family in particular that stood out. Ms. Vavra a cosmetic industry executive spoke about an evening with her family: “…Their son, Tom, was absorbed by a Wii game on the wide screen television. Their daughter, Eve, was fiddling with a game app called the Love Calculator on an iPod touch.” Ms. Vavra recalled, “The family was in the same room but not together" (94). She was advocating about how her and her family was all sitting together but all of them were in their own little worlds with their devices. Technology has become very popular and advanced throughout the years. This may be the cause for why families

In the Article “Quality time, redefine” by Alex Williams, the author discussed the influence of technology in today’s family’s interaction. In the past, families used to get together to play games, watch television shows or have dinner. Now, they are using their laptops, iPads, smart phones, and eBooks to work, to shop online, to listen music, watch television, sports and movies. For some people the internet and the use of these gadgets are responsible for bringing families apart. For example, in some case wives and husbands send e-mails to each other while they are in the same room and for many families their time together is spent in the living room with everybody doing their own thing. On the other hand, the author explains how in the

Adjetives to define friendship, as trust, caring, kindness, or compassion have been replaced by “likes”, and being “on call” as Turkle defines the way people is attached to their smart phones waiting for somebody who needs a comment or a like. Maintaining friendship now is not a question of conversation face to face, or a call, instead is a text message, a message that should be short and edited. People consider that this way or interaction is more efficient and less emotional than a real more demanding conversation. The author sustains that we are moving from friendship to a sense of

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.

Maria Konnikova, a New York Times best-selling author, is known for contributing scientific and psychological factors into her works, which has been published on several online publications such as Salon, the Atlantic, the New Republic, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, etc. (Konnikova 235). In her essay “Limits of Friendship”, she goes into depth about the number of friends that one can have overall based off Robin Dunbar theory and how technology is impacting not only his theory, but our social lives also. Based on Robin Dunbar research, he believes that a typical individual has one hundred and fifty people in their social group in which he differentiates in his “rule of three”. As technology advances, the way individuals interact with one another is through social media and their smart devices, but we’re slowly losing our focus on how to socialize with one another. Technology is making it easier to build relationships with those around the world, but harder with those around us.

When there are more television sets than members of a household under one roof, it is obvious that technology and media has greatly effected the contemporary American family. There are many forces and pressures that help to shape the American family that we all see, as well as, are a part of today. Technology and media has brought us very far as a country, but has also inflicted upon norms of yesterday. Technology is growing now just as fast as ever before and families are constantly changing because of it.

With time comes the constant change of technology, its advancements and our reactions over the refinement itself. In ‘ Distracted: The Erosion of Attention And The Coming Dark Age”, Jackson makes ungrounded statements concerning the negative effects of technology and the benefits it has acquired however Jackson accurately reveals the truth behind Jackson’s opinions on the effects of technology are one sided and very biased. A study by Edward Hallowell states that the way we are living our lives, controlled by balancing multiple task, is contributing to the attention deficit disorders (Jackson 149). As a result of our speedy generation, fast-acting systems and programs perfectly embody what is appropriate to our society at the time.

(Zemmels, 2012) noted “Many of the cultural changes in the last 50 years revolve around "doing things as a family," which has become synonymous with media time” (para. 40). Family activities are modernized by streaming movies or music, playing video games, and monitoring social media. More importantly, most media based electronics are operated in bedrooms instead of living rooms (Zemmels, 2012). Interacting with family and friends is no longer achieved by leaving the home. Digital media allows people the opportunity to interact through sharing photos, videos, and messaging.

However, it accidentally disconnects us from our kith and kin. Nowadays, we communicate with each other mostly by phone calls, messages, Facebook, and other types of online communication instead of face-to-face conversations. Emotional stickers on Facebook is gradually replacing physical smiles and actual eye contacts. We are too captivated on phone screen to say “Good morning” to everyone we meet on the streets as we used to. We share daily stories on social networks, but we are silent when having dinner with family.

With the use of social media, being the number one way in which we keep in touch with our friends, family and so on. It has become a well-known method in the world today, because people all over the world use social media to communicate with one another, but then what they don't know is how social media is negatively affecting our lives, social life and communication skills. These days, everyone is on one or more social network, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on. Social media have a great effect on people in the world today. It affects our ability to interact and communicate well with people.

When online, people are blocked off from hearing and seeing these non-verbal suggestions. “As human beings, our only real method of connection is through authentic communication. Studies show that only 7% of communication is based on the written or verbal word. A whopping 93% is based on nonverbal body language.” (Tardanico). This can be a real problem to society because if a person acts as if he or she was fine online, they could really be hiding their true feelings, and others would never know. “Awash in technology, anyone can hide behind the text, the e-mail, the Facebook post or the tweet, projecting any image they want and creating an illusion of their choosing.” (Tardanico). The person may be feeling upset, depressed, or suicidal, and all others can see is the way they pretend to be online. Without nonverbal cues, others will never know the true emotions behind the computer or phone screen. Another issue if that “Soon, they will neglect their family and friends as they are too engrossed with the social networking sites…” (Social Networking-Destroyed Communication Essay). Essentially, social networking sites have caused families to slowly drift farther apart. As well, family bonds and friendships are being worn down and broken. Social networking has caused the importance of face-to-face communication to lessen; now we depend on little emoticons and the way the person

Over the past few years, technology has become a significant part of people’s every day lives. It helps people connect with those far away, but in the process, disconnects themselves from others close with them. Technology has helped improve the lives of many people through transportation and more, but overall has torn us apart. The constant usage of technology has people’s eyes glued to a small screen; they often forget to communicate with those around them.

Technology has changed the relationships of families. Distracted by their laptops, TV’s, smartphones, and video games, families can’t have a friendly

Technology has revolutionized communication and the world like nothing before. The Internet has given the world a freedom never explored in the past. The Internet has broken communication barriers to an extreme level. Now day’s two people from two different countries can talk or chat without interactions. Internet has given people the ability to connect forever through social networking. Some of the biggest world social networking services are Facebook and Twitter. Through technology communication is made much easier, but the communication with the people that are right next to us might be getting weak. Technology has its positive and negative impacts on society. It could keep us informed, but it could also affect anyone’s communication life. Even though it’s an easy communication barrier it’s being over used by society every day. The Internet has charge everyone and everything over the years, it has giving us the ability to be informed on a much deeper level. Families are losing their communication, but not just because of technology. Not everything is positive when it’s about technology. It could help us connect no matter the distance, but we could lose communication and relationships. The world has not yet notice that losing important face to face communication because of technology it’s important.

The values regarding how a good friend should act have dramatically changed to someone that is always available and ready to talk. Ergo, because of the shift in technology, socialization now includes a new set of rules on how to behave regarding technology.