The advancement of technology has brought about both increased connection and isolation.
Nowadays, businesses allow employees to telecommute or work from home. This saves businesses money and saves employees time, allowing them more time and freedom to work and balance their lives. On the downside, employees must be disciplined to separate their home lives and responsibilities while working. They also do not participate in face-to-face work collaboration, which can feel isolating to some, “much like house arrest” as our textbook says. Despite employees' lack of face-to-face communication, they can still connect with co-workers and leaders all across the country and world. Their freedom to be at home may also enable them to visit with family or friends during lunch, run a quick errand, balance work and vacation better, and lead to overall increased life satisfaction.
Likewise in social networking, people can connect with others from various locations, interests, and backgrounds.
Social networking can produce more relationships because people have the ability to connect with others in vast locations and from different periods in their life. For example, if someone moves across the country, they can still keep in touch with their friends with relatively little effort or time through Facebook. People can connect with childhood friends, colleagues, teachers, group members, as well as send messages, share picture, plan events, share instant updates, and more. With social technology, people are able to connect with their past and present, as well as make potential connections for their future.
These connections can be superficial due to lack of physical contact, and they can create a false sense of connectivity or intimacy. For example, some people may “talk” over the computer, but fail to interact in person. Others may wonder how a friend is doing and consider calling them, but after looking at their Facebook, they have gathered enough current information that they no longer feel the need to reach out and talk about their life updates. However, the lack of face-to-face communication also opens the door for people to communicate thoughts and feelings they might not have the courage to in person, which can create deeper relationships. It can be easier to admit thoughts and feelings when one does not have to anticipate facial reactions or physical repercussions. Also, the invention of Skype, or video chatting has enabled greater connection with people from different areas, allowing people able to see and talk to one another.
There have also been studies about Facebook and social networking increasing depression because some people tend to highlight the good points of their lives through updates and pictures, making their life seem picturesque from the outside. When viewing this, others may discouraged or upset that their life does not appear to be as perfect. Also, if someone views pictures of friends or ex-girlfriends or boyfriends with new friends, this can feel isolating or upsetting. Additionally, instant updates allow people to post who they are with, where, and when, which can further contribute to feelings of exclusion.
While telecommuting and instant connection can be beneficial in terms of saving money, time, and making wide-spread connections, they can also be isolating and dangerous. It is important to not become too wrapped up in technology and make sure one participates and interacts with others in person. The advancement of technology enables our society to operate quickly and productively. It is essential to value in person interaction and the peace of the present moment without being constantly connected to technology and updates though. Technology advancement is not something to be concerned about as long as people can stay grounded.
I agree that it can be dangerous. We can change this, and I have seen how some social sites try to integrate real life into their own site structure. It's more up to the choice of the person on the website to go around and make changes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Andrew. I'm curious what you mean about sites integrating real life into their site structure. Would you mind explaining how that might work or what that means? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your thoughts on how Facebook has affected how we interact socially. You make some really interesting points I had not thought of such as that some people may say things over the internet that they would be afraid to say in person leading to a deeper connection. I would also say though that this can quickly become dangerous as so many people choose to say things that are cruel or hateful especially when they can do so anonymously. This happens less on Facebook because your name is attached to everything you say, but sometimes I see comments on articles online and I am amazed at the comments I read. People get into arguments with each other constantly and name calling is always quick to follow. People can be silenced due to 'too many negative votes'. I think this type of technology specifically breeds a sort of strange sense of isolation among internet users. I think that, like you said, with increased technology people need to stay grounded and remember that someone somewhere is reading their comments and reacting to them.
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