How Technology & Social Media Has Affected Our Society
In today’s society, technology has become an essential part of people's everyday lives. People cannot go a
day, let alone a few hours without checking their notifications and social media, myself included. Even
when my phone does not buzz with notifications, I constantly check it, anticipating some sort of
interaction with my friends. In Sherry Turkle’s TED talk, she talks about how technology has negatively
impacted today’s society. People of all ages in modern day society are addicted to their phones, and
because of this people have lost social skills, changed who they are, and use technology for
companionship.
day, let alone a few hours without checking their notifications and social media, myself included. Even
when my phone does not buzz with notifications, I constantly check it, anticipating some sort of
interaction with my friends. In Sherry Turkle’s TED talk, she talks about how technology has negatively
impacted today’s society. People of all ages in modern day society are addicted to their phones, and
because of this people have lost social skills, changed who they are, and use technology for
companionship.
Sherry Turkle has been doing research about technology and its effects on our social skills for years.
Through her studies, she found that people prefer to talk over the phone and through social media rather
than face to face interactions. During her studies, she found that an 18 year old boy said, “someday,
someday, but certainly not now, I would like to learn how to have a conversation”. Many people in
today’s society feel the same way, because they are intimidated by the idea that they can not control
what they are going to say. With over the phone communication, people are able to have control of what
to say and when to say it. The idea of having control is one of the largest reasons people like to talk
through the phone. Also, this allows people to present the version of themselves that they want the other
person to see. This goes hand and hand with the Goldilocks effect. The main idea of the Goldilocks
effect is that people can control how close they get to people. They do not get too close, they do not
drift too far, but they find the perfect amount of communication. This effect is known to negatively
influence the minds of adolescent minds. Young children need face to face interactions in order to
develop the necessary life skills. Sherry Turkle does a great job finding the negative impacts of
technology, and using them to explain the consequences they may cause to others.
I personally agree with some of Turkle's points. Being apart of the social media generation, I can agree
that our social skills are not nearly as good as our older siblings or parents. We grew up with social media
& do not know anything different. We have become so accustomed to talking online & through the phone
that adults are actually surprised when we have good conversation skills. The chances for improvement
are slim, as social media has become just a normal part of our everyday lives, but I believe that something
needs to be done to change the way we interact with one another.
Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_connected_but_alone
Through her studies, she found that people prefer to talk over the phone and through social media rather
than face to face interactions. During her studies, she found that an 18 year old boy said, “someday,
someday, but certainly not now, I would like to learn how to have a conversation”. Many people in
today’s society feel the same way, because they are intimidated by the idea that they can not control
what they are going to say. With over the phone communication, people are able to have control of what
to say and when to say it. The idea of having control is one of the largest reasons people like to talk
through the phone. Also, this allows people to present the version of themselves that they want the other
person to see. This goes hand and hand with the Goldilocks effect. The main idea of the Goldilocks
effect is that people can control how close they get to people. They do not get too close, they do not
drift too far, but they find the perfect amount of communication. This effect is known to negatively
influence the minds of adolescent minds. Young children need face to face interactions in order to
develop the necessary life skills. Sherry Turkle does a great job finding the negative impacts of
technology, and using them to explain the consequences they may cause to others.
I personally agree with some of Turkle's points. Being apart of the social media generation, I can agree
that our social skills are not nearly as good as our older siblings or parents. We grew up with social media
& do not know anything different. We have become so accustomed to talking online & through the phone
that adults are actually surprised when we have good conversation skills. The chances for improvement
are slim, as social media has become just a normal part of our everyday lives, but I believe that something
needs to be done to change the way we interact with one another.
Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_connected_but_alone
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