Week 11: Relationships in the digital age

My observation about the entire collection of articles for this week is that they felt uncomfortably awkward. Very real-life, and maybe a little intimate. What I feel generally is that we live in a connected world and we'll never be able to truly disconnect from anything. While that's not always bad--I like that I can grab my phone and search for anything (and anyone!) I want--but I miss the old days. Maybe 20 years ago, and more, when we weren’t carrying devices around like the ball and chain they’ve become. I might’ve pinned by a phone or two waiting for a call, but I LIVED my life, and it was noticeably more carefree. Eh. Maybe that’s just youth, though. 

The Pew Research article about phone use in social gatherings, well. Guilty as charged. I get that it’s not a considerate thing to do. We’ve all been there, though. I was a little surprised by the percentage of those who said people who use their cellphones at social gatherings hurt the conversation/atmosphere. Eighty-two percent seems very high because you’ve got to figure in a sample that large that…everybody is doing it. So why is everybody annoyed about it? One thing about this study I did puzzle over was people using phones to take photos. Where’s the harm in a group shot for Facebook or Instagram? Wink, wink, wink. Anyway, the bottom line for me is that having read this, I’m going to be more mindful about engaging with others and not my phone. Maybe.  

This is where I give a special nod to the photographer documenting the “death of real-life conversation.” I see it every. single. day. It’s pitiful. I wondered, though, looking at the images: did he get permission to take the photos? Were some staged? And if so, doesn’t that introduce bias?

The other Pew study, about teen behavior/dating in the age of social media, didn’t pull forward any surprises from me. Two observations: 1.) teens appear to have a healthy, leery approach about engaging with strangers online, and I say: SCORE FOR PARENTS EVERYWHERE, and 2.) teens use social media to gather information about potential partners/others, and I say: Like, hey teens? Adults do, too! One final note: I wonder how many of the teens surveyed for this study (only 100, interesting) were censoring themselves/being entirely honest about how they behave on social media?   

There were three articles that at first I felt had very little to do with our class, but upon reflecting on ALL the articles, I get it. How friendship fights depression, The likely cause of addiction has been discovered and Give it five minutes all had me reflecting about just how important and fragile humanity can be. (That statement feels overly melodramatic.) And it really does relate to how we should be setting down the devices and focusing on the relationships, the people around us and in front of us.