Technology usage now affects our interactions with humans.
When you spend time with your friends are you actively engaging in conversation
or fixated on your phone? The constant stream of information is almost
overwhelming. How could one manage to stay on top of their social media
accounts and have a physical conversation and interaction with another being.
An article ran by
CNBC in 2015 covers an individual’s new “normal” interactions with his wife.
The man said that he and his wife used to spend evenings talking about their
days and watching tv, now they spend their time on their phones. This
transition into a silent distance that appears as though we are alone, even as
we are ever connected illustrates the impact technology has had on our lives. As
we become more connected to technology we are changing the way we interact with
each other and how our society finds new normal.
According to an article titles “Technology is Rewriting the Rulebook
for Human Interaction” on Phys.org, a technology and science news site, the rules
of interaction are changing. The most interesting part of the piece is an observation
of a mother and her two-year-old in a restaurant. The mother is joining friends
for lunch and immediately sets her toddler in front of a tablet then jumps to
her own phone only sporadically partaking in actual conversation with her
friends. The authors illustrate this scenario with the term “virtual distance”.
Virtual distance is defined as, “a psychological and
emotional sense of detachment that accumulates little by little, at the
sub-conscious or unconscious level, as people trade-off time interacting with
each other for time spent "screen skating" (swiping, swishing,
pinching, tapping, and so on).” (Lojeski and Westell, 2015)
An increase in virtual distance is thought to increase
distrust among individuals, sure we will jump into a car with a stranger
through Uber, however the mistrust caused by virtual distance is the trust of
sharing ideas. This is most commonly seen in the workplace, for example if I
shared a solution to a problem via email to my co-worker Jesse before a big
meeting there is a likelihood Jesse will steal the idea for himself.
In addition to lowered trust, virtual distance can result in
humans disengaging from helping others. For example, if one see’s a person with
a flat tire they may now think, oh the person has a phone they can call AAA.
Without the increased presence of virtual distance an individual may realize
the persons phone could be dead or out of service range. But why go through the
trouble of interacting with a human when we can redirect our attention to the
expansive world inside our phones.
One may argue that our technology has made us all more
connected, we can now video chat with relatives in other countries. Companies
are able to develop international teams that work together through shared
spaces. However, Sherry Turkle’s TED talk addresses the issue: “Connected, but
alone?”.
In the talk, Sherry begins saying prior to the talk she received
a good luck text from her daughter. She illustrates the text as a warm hug,
exemplifying the benefits of the interconnected world we live in powered by the
technology changing our habits. As Sherry dives into her talk she illustrates one
very interesting effect of technology, the Goldilocks effect.
Similar to virtual distance, the Goldilocks effect, is the
just right distance we keep between ourselves and human interactions. This is
done so through the use of smart phones, tablets, etc. in our daily lives. Next,
she highlights the issues with this effect, the way it affects the younger
generation. A middle-aged individual who already knows how to properly communicate
with individuals in person is able to have a virtual distance. However, a young
person is being hindered by only knowing how to communicate via text. Shirley
uses a quote from a young individual in her talk, this young person said that “someday,
someday, but certainly not now, I would like to learn how to have conversation.”
This quote encapsulates the new interaction habits we are forming as we let
virtual distance take hold of our lives. Will children born in the past decade be
able to properly communicate with each other as they get older? Are schools
going to have to rethink their curriculum to re-train children the art of conversation?
The increasing stronghold of virtual distance, and appealing
safety of the “Goldilocks Effect” will shape the way we interact as a society.
Will our interrelationships change permanently in the future? Will there come a
time when the thought of a face-to-face conversation is passé?
Articles:
Great topic, and so much written and researched about this. Also related to previous blog, but the focus is mediated integration and how that affects what we say and how we say it. Talking, face-to-face interaction is rare, so we forget how to convey ideas well.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you heard about Alexa for kids, which many are campaigning against because of the cognitive effects of teaching 5-year olds how to interface with a bot, but The Echo Dot for kids is functionally identical to the Echo Dot for adults, except that it’s brightly colored and inexplicably costs $30 more than the grown-up version.
Cosmetics aside, Echo Dot is still an AI-powered microphone that listens constantly for an activation keyword, relays a user’s voice to remote servers where it is analyzed and processed opaquely, and then responds to an increasingly long list of commands; on its packaging, Amazon highlights commands like “tell me a story” and “start Spongebob.” Dot for kids will not only perpetually listen to and entertain your children, but attempt to teach them manners in your stead: “Alexa even provides positive feedback when kids ask questions and remember to say ‘please,'” says Amazon.
Lovely...
Here's the link to the article, published today, 5/11. Experts say keep Amazon's Alexa away from your kids.
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