Technology in Moder Society

Mohamed Elgabrouny

S. Krishnamurthy

Basic Composition (CC)

25 September 2015

Connected

        One of the biggest conflicts people are facing in the 21st century is the role technology plays in socializing with others. Ironically phones, computers, robots and other technological inventions were made to increase humans’ social interactions with each other; however, people have started to over use technology in a way that diminished our social contact with others in nature and content. In Small Change: Why The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted and Alone Together, Malcom Gladwell and Sherry Turkle discuss how people tend to misuse these technological inventions and their implications on the society in general. Both authors are trying to promote the authenticity of human relationships that is deteriorating by time.

        Technology has transformed social connections into a much simpler and robotic way. In ‘I traced the subjective side of personal computers…our relationships, our sense of being human’(Turkle 264), Turkle emphasizes that technology leads to an escape from reality and how fake social media can be. As a result, Turkle talks about authenticity in relationships between people. According to Turkle, authentic not only means real, but it also means lively, emotional and intimate. This can be viewed in relationships that are highlighted with the ability to put oneself in the place of another, share experiences and, most importantly, show love and passion. Turkle uses numerous examples to demonstrate and prove her ideas. For example, when her daughter said that they could just use a robot tortoise instead of the real Galapagos Islands’ one, as she saw it as motionless and was unmoved by its authenticity. This provides a clear evidence of how new generations are swayed towards lively and moving creatures. Turkle stated that although technology puts people in the perfect world, house, family and social life in ‘a place to love your body, love your friends, and love your life’ (263), it actually tends to diminish the emotional contact we experience with the beloved ones. As a result, Turkle provides the reader with an example like David Levy and how he views relationships with robots as regular thing in his book Love and Sex with Robots. Levy’s point of view is that turning away from relationship complexities is the main aim behind interacting with robots. Turkle uses Levy to stress on how technology affects social relationships and how it promotes isolation. Moreover, in ‘Her thumbs are bandaged’ and ‘And so she sent a text message to Ronnie, no more than fifteen feet away’, Turkle shows empathy to those who are being transformed into another world subconsciously.

        Similarly, Gladwell talks about how technology managed to create a boundary between real and fake ties between people; however, Gladwell specifically focuses on how technology plays a massive role in creating social-media driven activism, which is, according to him, not as strong and real as the traditional activism that was used in the past decades. Gladwell used the Greensboro freshmen as an example to exhibit how technology transformed our ways of pursuing freedom from sitting down on the counter facing deaths to liking a page or retweeting a tweet that opposes racism. In ‘Our acquaintances are our greatest source of new ideas and information…and the logistical function of the dating world’ (Gladwell,137), Gladwell supports the idea of using technology for common causes that include sharing new ideas, innovations and information and connecting with people from all over the world; nevertheless, he argues that these characteristics of technology should not be used in activism, which requires various aspects like: authority, assigned duties, disciplined groups, standing committees and ,most importantly, unity. These aspects are the most important ingredients for producing a stable activist society that helps organizations to strive for their goals. On the other hand, in ‘Facebook and the like tools for building networks, which are the opposite…and the ties that bind people to the group are loose’ (139), Gladwell demonstrates the disadvantage of social media-activism that promotes individuality among its users and lacks unity; for example, having 10,000 followers on a page that fights sexual violence is nothing compared to having an organization with the same number of participants. Furthermore, social media activists tend to have scattered ideas and plans that do not collaborate with others; they are not always honest and many of them are attention-seekers who are not suitable for leading significant issues to the society in general. As a result, Gladwell refers to their activities as high-risked ones that will not be reliable for achieving goals in ‘This structure makes networks enormously resilient and adaptable in low-risk situations. (139)