Do social networks make us 'less human'?
| 19:30 UK time, Monday, 24 January 2011
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- the idea that social media is distancing people from reality and each other is part of what some are calling an 'intellectual backlash' against the values and methods of modern communication.
That's what MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues in her new book, . She thinks people are being made "less human" by sites like Twitter and Facebook:
technology is threatening to dominate our lives and make us less human. Under the illusion of allowing us to communicate better, it is actually isolating us from real human interactions in a cyber-reality that is a poor imitation of the real world.
And she's not alone. , , , could all be included in the 'backlash' and have written about how the internet negatively affects how we think or how we behave.
The recent case of a woman in the UK has been used to back up this argument. after posting a suicide note Facebook. None of her 1,048 so-called Facebook 'friends' tried to save her and some responded with cruel messages.
But lots of people disagree with Sherry Turkle. Here's what these people have posted and tweeted on the subject:
Mona says on : Being from and living in the Mid East, through facebook, I'm able to go on threads and comment and read comments and communicate with people I would NEVER EVER have the opportunity to talk to in the 'real world'. Where in the world or in the real world would I get a chance to listen to the other side, regardless if I agree with other opinions or not; at least I am exposed to them, which didn't exist for me before social networking.
Sheena from Dubai but living in Florida :Ìý...it connects people more. Especially for expats like me with friends & relatives all over the world, social media connects us all in a way that wasn't possible a decade ago.
Joannejacobs in London tweets: Happy Monday! Contrary to Sherry Turkle's perspective, I don't think any of u are 'mad', and sure you'll commune with more than tech today.
But Chris Lott tweets: Turkle's book is good. People don't want to speak of the truth in it. To detriment of all.
EzyStvy in Dallas writes on this : hmmmm. I do emails with my mom several times a week. Before email - calling her on her birthday and mothers day and a visit once a year was about it.
And Khalil in Illinois says on the same forum: I don't understand the facebook addiction, I have customers bringing in their badly infected machines, they are so desperate to have them fixed so they can get back on facebook as soon as possible. We had a lady litterally weeping because she was going to be without farmville for 2 days. I can see how it can cause people to become isolated from reality but as Ezy said, email is a great thing and it is a good way to maintain contact with those you love. I have no use for facebook or myspace, twitter I never botherd with, seems like a gimick to me.
Post your thoughts here.
