The Descent into a Digital Culture

Many people are not mindful of how technology is disconnecting us from one another. When people pull out smartphones during a conversation or social gathering they will cause others to feel disconnected. These phones allow people to withdraw from what is happing now and move another situation reducing the quality of the conversation that is within our reach. In the essay "Stop Googling. Let's Talk" by Sherry Turkle; she believes that we are becoming a culture of short chats versus growing our culture of thinkers that are open to sharing in constructive and meaningful conversations with one another.

Humans are naturally social beings. Jeremy Rifkin states, “We are, it appears, the most social of animals and seek intimate participation and companionship with our fellows (115).” The article continues to explain how humans seem to connect through emotions and that inner, neurological need for human interaction. When one person feels pain, joy, or sadness, they want to share their feelings with another person. Hence, the needing fulfillment of social interaction. However, the use of social media does not mean humans have become less social. Even though social media has introduced a new way of interacting and communicating, studies have shown that people are becoming more

In “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.” by Sherry Turkle a Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been studying the psychology of online connectivity for more than 30 years. For the past five years, she has been focusing on topics: What has happened to face‐ to‐face conversation in a world where so many people say they would rather text than talk, families, friendships and romance. She has also studied schools, universities and workplaces. Among this topics she has talked and provided studies on how we have become distant from “who we are.” She reports that we as a society have lost a lot of virtues as a society such as a lack of empathy for one another, solitude, and communication with one another. As the “digital world” continues to grow we as a society continue to grow with it and apart from one another. Sherry also emphasizes that we

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.

Humanity has far surpassed anything that was seen as impossible. However, as society progressed did we get distracted on the way? Did we seem to lose track of the important things that mattered in our lives? In the mid-1980s Neil Postman wrote a book called Amusing Ourselves to Death which talks about how technology and media has reshaped our culture and he makes predictions on how it will shape our future. The purpose of this paper is to update Postman's perspective to the present. Throughout the last chapter of the book Postman talks about how technology has distracted us, and how it has changed our social lives. This paper will provide information on how Postman's perspective examples connect to society today, and how many of us are influenced by it without even noticing it.

The ease with which people are able to share and communicate over the Internet has had the effect that people no longer feel the need to interact in with one another in person because they feel that everything they want to do can be done over the Internet. An example can be seen in “Connectivity and its Discontents”, where we are introduced to Randy (Turkle 621). Randy’s younger sister was recently engaged to be married, something that most people would consider a significant event. She and her fiance decided to make the announcement to their family and friends via e-mail, something that made Randy feel very far away from his sister emotionally. Social media can also have the effect that constantly updating our information and giving second by second updates on the ordinary events of our daily

Throughout the years people have been given the privilege of interpersonal communication in many forms, such as letters, emails, texts, and social media. Letters were one of the very first mediums people used to communicate, and as the years went by technology improved, and emails were created. Emails served as a faster alternative for people in a business to contact someone else. Following that was the idea of text messaging, not only was it time efficient but also easier. That wasn’t the only thing connecting people all around the world though. Social media wasn’t the most popular to begin with, but as time went by, and it became more personal, people began to take a very big interest in it. Letters, emails, texts, and social media play

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.

Every individual is in constant exposure to all sorts of different types of technology. This continuous display then creates a major decline in all social interaction. People are content with their lives and remain unaware of what’s really going on in the world around them. In modern day society this can also be seen. With technology becoming more and more part of people’s daily lives, it has become more evident that we are drifting apart from each other. Communication is now being done through the use of social media instead of talking face to face. All through the day the average person is using such devices as phones, computers, and TVs during their free time and also when working. Activities such as writing letters along with the use of things like newspapers are slowly being replaced with the use of newer technology. Even books are starting to be a way of the past just like in the

Technology’s purpose socially is to make connections faster, and for someone not to utilize its benefits would be left in the dark unable to interact with society. Trends, in addition to technology, also provide a way for the public to connect with each other through similarities. Trends like, “modern marketing… the first national brands” and “pop culture… the first international superstar” are commonalities that bring the American people together (Andersen 3). A lack of knowledge or interest in trends would make that person an outsider to society and less likely to achieve the social standards. As America continues to expand and adapt, new ideas and their transition into advancements, its culture begins to emphasize these advancements as necessary to achieve the social standard.

American culture is being remodeled by the technology around us. Television, radio, and the internet were once great mediums for news and knowledge, now the focus is almost entirely centered around entertainment. Technological expansion has been a marvel of human accomplishment, but we seem to use it for all the wrong reasons. Technology is constantly advancing and easing everyday life, but are we actually hurting ourselves?

With the power of social media and the internet, we can connect globally in a way that was not possible before. Unfortunately, I do have to admit that it does take away a more personable interaction. Most people will connect with Facebook versus taking the time to see the person. For example, in the reading, “I’m Still Here: Back Online after a Year without the Internet” by Paul Miller, he said “It is the boredom and lack of stimulation that drives me to do things I really care about, like writing and spending time with others” (4). When we get bored, we want to do things we have never done before. The downside is, that there is people that rather kill that time on their devices. Rather than, cleaning their room or explore the world for those valuable 20 minutes they will text their life away. If everyone, was to go a month without the internet, the world would probably end. Everyone is so addicted to this new era of devices.

The written word,now a weapon, is now digitized and feed through media. “A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon.” (Bradbury 58). Not only have books become a media revolution so has social interaction. Social media allows for connections formerly unheard. “The problem, they say, is that we spend so much time maintaining superficial connections online that we aren’t dedicating enough time or effort to cultivating deeper real-life relationships.”(WSJ). This avenue of socialization allows for discretion of the true life and person of the poster. “And even worse, the human condition is beginning to devolve. We have become addicted to the vanity of social media unable to expose our lives to the world.”(Green). This media based socialization can overtake the lives of many. “When you add it all up, the average American spends more than 10 hours a day plugged into some form of media.”(Synder). Making the human race even more technology

There is a transformation happening today that is completely changing the way that we do things. The ways that we are communicating are shifting from face to face interactions to short, interactive messages. Technology seems to be making it easier to stay connected, but it is restricting our interactions with others and leading to isolation.

Throughout this essay I will be discussing how the digital age has transformed society in many ways. The digital age also known as the information age, is the evolution of technology in daily life and social organizations have led to the fact that the modernization of information and communication processes has become the driving force of social evolution.” This is a time period in which we live in now where Internet and email are available; this is an example of the digital age. The Information Age is the idea that access to and the control of information is the defining characteristic of this current era in human civilization.