Week 3

Dear, Ms. Turkle,

            I read through your reading “Alone Together”. This writing clarified the communicated lapse that humans are experiencing in life today. I have been studying communication between humans for the past few years in college and the evidence you included in your writing proves the point I have been researching. People communicate less and less face-to-face and more via text message, e-mail, and over the web. It has come to my attention from being apart of this generation that we were raised this way. We grew up with new technology that was suppose to make our lives “easier” but in reality has reduced our communication skills to the minimum. You stated in your writing, “The new technologies allow us to ‘dial down’ human contact, to titrate its nature and extent.” This is causing a real problem in communication within the workplace and regular life situations. People are becoming unable to communicate. Whether it be for reason of laziness or shyness, people are just not communicated to the best of their ability. You also stated, “…people readily admit that they would rather leave a voicemail to sense an e-mail than talk face-to-face.” I couldn’t agree more with this statement. It’s the absolute truth and it’s a rising problem in the world today. People hide behind their technologies rather then facing their issues and communicating, as we are capable of doing. I think it was really important that you brought this issue at hand to the attention of people. Most people will deny it is actually a problem, however, this concern can grow into a bigger issue as time goes on and more technologies are invented. I think communication face-to-face is extremely important and just because we have these new technologies to aid us in communicating doesn’t mean that they should replace our face-to-face communication all together.

            In retrospect to the idea that people live within their blackberries as a sort of virtual world, I think that it has become second nature to these people that they live the lives they really live and that they have these virtual lives that they can get lost in when they are alone. It is a place to go to keep themselves busy when they are alone.  That is a problem within itself. Everyone will deny it and as you said, web access is the place where loneliness can be defeated.

Best,

Deanna Dimino