Are we connected to life, or life as we know it through a screen
Have you ever connected so much with a video that you watch it over, and over and over?
That's exactly what I did this week when I started a new university subject, 'Digital Communities'. The weeks reading material include a video, a Ted talk by Sherry Turkle 'Connected but alone?'.
You may be wondering why this video had such an impact on me? or even what resonated with me on the inside. It was these 12 words that Sherry said that hit me like a bulldozer. "They don't only change what we do, they change who we are" (TED-Ed 2013).
You see, I was an 80's baby so I grew up in the 90's and It wasn't really until the late 90's that Australia started to adopt more technology. Geez, I didn't get my first mobile phone until 1999, but you would never call or text anyone because it was too expensive. Over the years, technology was included more and more into our daily life.
I Still Remember
Dial-up internet
Making Plans and keeping them
A turn Dial phone that plugged into the wall
Meeting your partner at drunk at a bar
Life without Facebook
having no idea what a selfie really was
But that all changed when technology crept up on us, and we were introduced to a device called a 'smartphone'. Oh wow was this phone smart, It had all the bells and whistles. It was shiny, colourfull, allowed text messages to have more characters and this shiny device had something called 'Apps' that would change our life... and gee did they!
We could access endless amounts of internet content, more songs than we could listen to, ability to see where friends checked in on facebook and share everything about yourself with the world.
Fast forward to today, Sensis (2017) 8 in 10 Australians now use social media with Facebook being the most popular social networking site.
With so many friends and family using these social networking sites, it makes me wonder further...
If I was to stop using social networking sites, would I feel more connected to friends and family in the real world? or would I simply be alone and not connected. Despite remembering life without a smartphone, could I even give it up in today's modern technological world?
I'm looking forward to delving deeper into this 'Digital Community' topic this semester.
Would you feel more connected to real life without a smartphone?
Sensis 2017, Sensis Social Media Report, Sensis Pty Ltd, viewed 7 September 2017, <https://www.sensis.com.au/about/our-reports/sensis-social-media-report>.
TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone?- Sherry Turkle, 19 April, viewed 10 November 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>.
