In Sherry Turkle's recent TED talk, the Life on the Screen author turns her analytical gaze on the paradox of why she loves to receive texts even as she worries that too many texts may be a problem. In essence, she is interested in exploring the way in which the increasing ubiquity of technology may be changing the way we relate to each other - and the way we relate to ourselves. For Turkle, the central difference between the excitement she felt 15 years ago with regard to technology and the concern she feels now is the fact that 15 years ago we would go online, hang out - and then turn off.
It is the absence of turning off that gives Turkle the sense that technology may be taking us places we don't want to go. She cites what she refers to as the 'Goldilocks effect' of technology - the ability it gives us to moderate our self-presentation, interactions and relationships in such a way as to keep other people 'not too close, not too far, just right'. In so doing, she argues, we have lost the ability to have a real conversation, and we have lost the ability to be alone, with the result that "we expect more from technology and less from each other". Sadly, a lot of the examples she gave of the increasing alone/togetherness of our social lives rang true for me.
What do you think? Are we trying so hard to be constantly connected that we can't be by ourselves? Are we editing and retouching ourselves so much that we are no longer able to experience authentic intimacy? Is the way that we communicate online inauthentic, or just a new kind of authenticity?
It is the absence of turning off that gives Turkle the sense that technology may be taking us places we don't want to go. She cites what she refers to as the 'Goldilocks effect' of technology - the ability it gives us to moderate our self-presentation, interactions and relationships in such a way as to keep other people 'not too close, not too far, just right'. In so doing, she argues, we have lost the ability to have a real conversation, and we have lost the ability to be alone, with the result that "we expect more from technology and less from each other". Sadly, a lot of the examples she gave of the increasing alone/togetherness of our social lives rang true for me.
What do you think? Are we trying so hard to be constantly connected that we can't be by ourselves? Are we editing and retouching ourselves so much that we are no longer able to experience authentic intimacy? Is the way that we communicate online inauthentic, or just a new kind of authenticity?
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