Discussion on “Connectivity and its discontents” by Sherry Turkle

An article talks about how technology has enveloped a bigger part of human lives and their intimacies. Turkle talks about different case studies to support her take on “connectivity and its discontents”. Various examples of technology allow multi tasking, which in turn divides attention further and makes us seem busier. People are comfortable to texting; rather than picking up calls or interacting with people in real life. Turkle also reveals how the young generation perceives their smartphones as a phantom limb and a bare necessity among everything else. The disconnect is hard to handle and people don’t expect any in the near future.

“cyberintimacies slides into cybersolitudes”

In the modern age, we see and even experience sharing with technology. We have come to trust technology and its offerings in our quest of adapting to it. It seems relatively easier to share our life with technology than confronting someone in real life. The intimacies we share with cyberspace and our relationship with it is a proof how dependent we are on it; but it seldom sheds light on how it affects our social life down to even family. We escape into a realm of cybersolitude, where it is quite evident we are slowly fading into a technology quagmire far away from actual social interactions. We accept relationships with machines readily, when we could be fostering better relationships with human. Our connectivity with technology brings us closer to it, engulfing us. We have become so engrossed in our tiny little bubbles, it makes it harder for us to break away from it.

The future is surely ours to make, but are we really making it for us?