#turkle

[kitshomeforwaywardsouls]

nono I think I understand this app now

Turkle

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

Wee turtle shelleton

[callmekatydid]

McMurphy: Also, from now on we’ll be using code names. You can address me as Eagle One.

McMurphy: Candy, codename: Been There Done That.

McMurphy: Harding is Currently Doing That.

McMurphy: Cheswick is It Happened Once in a Dream.

McMurphy: Turkle, codename: If I Had to Pick an Aide.

McMurphy: And Billy is... Eagle Two.

Billy: Oh, thank god.

***

McMurphy, about Chief: I’d Be Lying If I Said I Hadn’t Thought About It is in position...

[communitygoesdigital]

First blog post, chookity! Not entirely sure what I’m doing, so I think this gif might be appropriate - 

Social media has enabled, even encouraged smartphone users to be “always on” (boyd, 2012), which has fundamentally altered the way we relate to one another, how we use language, as well as our basic sense of selves. Many people (myself included) experience nomophobia, the “fear of being unable to use one’s mobile device” (Arpaci et al. 2017). The definition goes on to include the “affordances these devices provide”, suggesting that it’s not just not having a phone that’s responsible for the anxiety we experience; it’s what we can do with the phone that we don’t like being without. Personally, I like to be able to find answers to questions I have as soon as I wonder about something. I’ll forget the answer almost immediately, but it’s nice to have the knowledge for 10 minutes or so!

Sherry Turkle speaks about receiving a text as like “getting a hug”. I absolutely agree with her. When I moved to the country, being connected to my friends back in Melbourne via SMS and social media was like carrying them around in my pocket. I could include them in my life through Snapchat, see what they were up to on Instagram. Turkle then goes on to make the point that we want control over how we appear through texting and posting, which struck a chord with me. The amount of time I’ve wasted poring over a post, both for uni discussions and social media engagement, is ridiculous. I’ll overthink what I’m saying and how it’s written, trying to perfect it. And I often bail on posting at all because I can’t get it right. In a classroom or a real life social situation, I’d just make a fool of myself and move on. Turkle goes on to point out that “we use conversations with each other to learn how to have conversations with ourselves”. Applying this to my situation is a perfect way to demonstrate that my social skills won’t get any better without practicing.

Siapera’s statements about individuals being able to join a virtual community “to meet like-minded people” rings very true. In my case it was like-gutted people, because when I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease, it was a Facebook group where I learned everything: available resources, not-so-well-known unsafe food practices to look out for, safe places to eat, recipes for foods I can’t eat anymore, and short and long term side effects. Then there was the support on the page – people who knew what I was going through were (and are) so supportive and understanding. Therefore, I cannot agree with Putnam’s statement of technology, that “the result (of technology) is a society that is not much more than a collection of individuals, meeting and socializing occasionally… Who do not share any strong bonds or any sense of common purpose.” My argument would be that strong bonds can be found anywhere in society, whether a common purpose is present or not. We’re social animals, after all.

Comments welcome! Thanks for reading :)

REFERENCES

Arpaci, I, Baloğlu, M, Özteke Kozan, H & Kesici, Ş 2017, "Individual Differences in the Relationship Between Attachment and Nomophobia Among College Students: The Mediating Role of Mindfulness", Journal of Medical Internet Research, vol. 19, no. 12, p. e404, viewed 3 December, 2018, <https://www.jmir.org/2017/12/e404/#ref28>.

boyd, D 2012, 'Participating in the always-on lifestyle', in M Mandiberg (ed) The Social Media Reader, NYU Press, pp. 71-76.

Siapera, E 2012, 'Socialities and Social Media', in Understanding New Media, Sage, London, pp. 191-208.

TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone?- Sherry Turkle, 19 April, viewed 26 September 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>.

[thraginsufferable]

[lilynewmedia]

The Conditions and People We’ve Created

Joel, adopting the identity of Rashi in Second Life, obtains an enriching life through gaming. What’s most interesting is when he explains how he flies without a body, his “self” in the game “is no longer Rashi... when he flies this way, he becomes a camera; his “I” becomes a disembodied “eye” (217). This snippet of the books explores a lot of issues with identity politics and post-humanism. Joel can warp himself without actually changing anything. Through this, we created a new culture where it doesn’t matter if we’re losers or depressed in the real world. In the virtual world, you can be limitless. 

[lilynewmedia]

Complicating the Closed World We Confine Ourselves To

Turkle argues that sociable robots reduce the meaning of relationships and confines us to a world that is closed off. This is true to an extent. The book also showcases people who are genuinely lonely and have no other means of forming the relationships we yearn for. For example, seven-year-old Brooke reveals that “at home she feels ignored, in the shadow of her eleven-year-old sister Andrea...” (88). She further explains that no one talks or listens to her. Cog, the robot, fills that emptiness. In this situation, Brooke is not in a closed world. Rather, she is being open to a superficial connection, which is better than the lack of connection she had before. 

The instance also shows how robots can profit off loneliness. Our interactions with them reveal a deeper issue of isolation, family dynamics, and the individual mindset mainstream American culture adopts. 

(For 10/25 assignment)

[lilynewmedia]

Together and Alone...

Toward the end of a section in Turkle’s book, titled “Operating Procedures”, Linda argues that the Furby is “both biological and mechanical... [the Furby] is real because it is talking and moving and going to sleep” (44). On the same page, nine-year-old Lara reflects that you can make a Furby “like you. But it won’t die or run away. That is good.” 

I bring this part up because it relates to the idea that sociable computers are simplifying, or detriment, to our relationships with other human beings. Obviously, humans talk, move, and sleep. But they do it at their own will, aren’t tediously programmed to execute a specific action. You can’t make another person like you and, at some point, people die. Because of our increased reliance and use of advanced technology, we become more demanding. Worst case scenario, some people ultimately isolate themselves completely and form relationships solely with machines because of their convenience. 

We’re simultaneously together and alone because all of us, to different degrees, participate in this culture of new media use. 

(For 10/20 assignment)