The "Connected" Generations

[Levusti]

Our generation is undoubtedly, the most "connected" than all our previous generations. We can communicate with family, friends, and strangers from opposite sides of a city, a country, a continent, and the world and it can be done effortlessly.

However, with this generation there are new types of communication that was not present in previous generations. Selfies pervade Instagram and Twitter and Facebook. You can anonymously comment on many sites on pictures of other people, share your ideas with others, and publish your works for others to critique. You can broadcast yourself in real-time as you play games or hold an international conference and even be interactive with it as if you're actually there.

How do you feel this has affected these "connected" generations emotionally, socially, and physically?

Personally, I'm actually not too fond of this "connectedness." I take friends out to restaurants and hang out at parks and shop at stores, but all they do is go "Uh-huh,"and "Oh, yeah?" as they mindlessly browse through their Twitter or texts or phone. I do not see any need to be so CONSTANTLY connected to your people. Socially, I feel people are more willing to say they've "communicated with others" when really they just send words across from one device to another. I don't feel the true connectedness from a person to another person.

A lot of my coworkers must find me trustworthy and knowledgeable since they come to me with relationship advice (even though I've never had a relationship before). A lot of times they say they "argue about blah blah blah" and "fight about blah blah blah" but it's all in the form of text messaging. To me, I feel the emotion is lost in the form of text and you lose the chance to see the physiological effects of what the other person sees and feels and says. It's not really a productive way to communicate yourself.

However, I do understand the need for this perhaps for those who are not so socially apt. But this should not--in my opinion--be an excuse or a replacement for face-to-face interaction.

You guise, i'm excited to see your take on this. Lemme know what you think!

 

[Windsong]

Text doesn't convey tone, nuance, facial expressions, etc etc. So it makes it far easier to open up to someone about something deeply personal like that.

Looking at my 15 year old sister it's obvious this isn't a good thing. Even normal conversations seem to have that droning tone to it like they're constantly reading a script without emotion. Probably doesn't help they're both staring at their phones and trying to get the other to see Funny Video #X Now with Someone Getting Injured!

Physically I've seen it cause some issues in the form of neck problems in students as young as 12 at the school where I work. According to our nurses it's because they sit hunched over looking down at their phone rather than holding the phone up and level with their face. A whole lot of kids seem to have this hump in their neck from it.

Emotionally it's a disconnect as well. But I don't have the time to delve into that or much else. Others will come in with far better topics and sources then me on this subject matter.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

It's a tool, we use to expand and enhance the means we can connect with people.

We can talk to anyone from anywhere.
We can find specialized groups of people better than ever.
May you want a group of people who share a joy for roleplaying, cats, the same religion, pokemon, etc.
It gets you exposed to ideas you'd never see RL, both due to the global aspect of the Internet, and the fact people are more open and honest online.

And for those who value it, it gives them the ability to be anonymous.
To truly be them without people knowing, and without it going back to their personal life.

Overall I see it as a huge boon to society.

However, I will admit the whole 'Uh-huh" stuff from cellphone users is a bit problematic for RL communication.
But let's be honest, all that really show's/proves is that Internet life has managed to be more engaging and entertaining than RL.
If anything that doesn't really highlight an issue with the technology, but rather an issue with RL and how it lacks actual engagement.

For example me and my friends all have cell phones, and all spend a good amount of time online.
But when in person we're still capable of face to face interaction without being distracted by the phone.

 

[Lost]

I actually wrote a short essay on this topic so it's funny that it's brought up here.

What's also funny about this is my parents are worse than I am. I'll try to have a conversation with my mom but she's too busy with her nose in her phone to actually listen to me. I've gotten over it but it's still annoying as fuck.

I have two friends that are ALWAYS on their phone. Often I wonder who they're talking to or what they are doing that is so important they can't put their phones down when I come to visit. Honestly, it's annoying too.

But at the same time I think that we are getting so used to it, some people at least, that we just kind of ignore it.

One of my profs last semester said, "Don't let technology control you." He talked about not looking at your phone in the middle of a conversation with another person and hearing them out, checking it after they're done talking or not at all. I like that way of thinking and wish that more people could do this but... I don't know many that probably would.

It's cool to be connected but it's nice to be able to communicate face to face and actually listen instead of reading texts where you have no idea what kind of tone is being used(that's probably the worst) :)

I could go on and on about this but I won't because who has the time.

 

[Peaches]

First off, let me just state I am a fan of selfies. If you want to take 30 pictures of yourself because it makes you feel good, you go ahead and do that. People in our society are facing so many ridiculous standards and in a world that says "if you do not look like this, you need to fix yourself so that you do look like this" it's nice to be able to finally appreciate yourself and think you look good in a photo. I'm pro-selfie. No matter what.

I also think it differs a lot from person to person. Some of my friends are totally incapable of looking up from their cell phones during a dinner with friends or while hanging out and watching a movie... and those friends suck. Because they are shitty at communicating. Are they shitty BECAUSE they have a cell phone? Not necessarily. They might just be bad at it to begin with and use their phone as a crutch because they're awkward and don't want to contribute to the conversation.

My experience with most of my friends has been that they can recognize when it is appropriate to use a cell phone and when it is not appropriate to ignore everyone in favor of said cell phone.

I dunno. I don't think we can generalize an entire generation. It irritates me when magazines rag on this new generation. HOW ABOUT YOU GO BACK TO HAVING TO LOOK UP INFORMATION IN AN ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

[Levusti]

However, I will admit the whole 'Uh-huh" stuff from cellphone users is a bit problematic for RL communication.
But let's be honest, all that really show's/proves is that Internet life has managed to be more engaging and entertaining than RL.
If anything that doesn't really highlight an issue with the technology, but rather an issue with RL and how it lacks actual engagement.

What I wonder is why is it the internet life is "more exciting" than "real life?" Surely we can find ways to explore the world physically?

First off, let me just state I am a fan of selfies. If you want to take 30 pictures of yourself because it makes you feel good, you go ahead and do that. People in our society are facing so many ridiculous standards and in a world that says "if you do not look like this, you need to fix yourself so that you do look like this" it's nice to be able to finally appreciate yourself and think you look good in a photo. I'm pro-selfie. No matter what.

I never looked at selfies in that way.

I've held the opinion that Selfies made people a little more narcissistic than before.

But now I understand. Thanks for enlightening me!

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

What I wonder is why is it the internet life is "less exciting" than "real life?" Surely we can find ways to explore the world physically?

Lack of inspiration out there?
Too exhausted from school/work?
The Weather being awful thanks to global warming?

There's definitely more reasons than that, but these the main three I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Minerva]

People claim Technology makes us dumb.

Example: In New York, a man drove his wheelchair onto Subway tracks. The train was coming, so a guy went, and pulled th man from the tracks just in time. When he turned around, he noticed that everyone had their phone out. He said if Phoens hadn't been invented, people would have been more willing to help.

That's untrue. Know what they would have been doing? Just standing there. People have complained about every technological advancement since the Dawn of Time, and most of those are unfounded.

 

[Alphakoka]

 

[Reina]

I'll admit, I've succumbed to the draw of the vast world called the internet and enjoy having it at my disposable, right at my fingertips. I find myself constantly looking down at my phone and not having real conversations. I've done that but for me its mostly because I have a very difficult time speaking to someone I don't personally know. Its a fear of mine and difficult to overcome (although I'm working on it). Either way, I find it hard to communicate with someone face to face and find I can communicate more effectively through email or some other written form.

My husband and I, however, have a rule that if we go out with one another we cannot look at our phones. We need to have a real conversation with each other and not worry about our phones or whatever is going on in cyber space. Its nice. Sometimes we don't say much to each other but I love to look into his eyes anyway so its ok. ;)

 

[BrattyCommissar]

As someone who has been sickly and unable to go 'out and about' to socialize for most of her life, to the point of having to drop out of school and such, I find the argument of the medium of communication and friendship somehow makes it less of a friendship insulting and ignorant at best. Granted, that's mostly personal bias. Because that opinion, if true, invalidates almost every single enduring friendship I've had since my health began to deteriorate. It says that my friendships, feelings, conversations, and connections aren't as good as yours. That yours are superior and mine are lesser.

Continuing, I only know one person, online or otherwise, who refuses to engage others in conversation because they're so engrossed with their phone to the exclusion of everything else. And that's my dad, a baby boomer. So again, I have personal biases against that argument as well.

So, no, I disagree with the notion that a more technologically advanced medium for communication is deprived of meaning, emotional connection, friendship, whatever. I have friends who I have never gotten to shake the hand of, but who have helped me through dark times and I love like what family is supposed to be like. I've had bitter emotions with people as well. I've had love 'cross the boundary' of the internet into change and commitment in physical space, and love that never had the financial aptitude to make that happen. With online connectivity, I've been able to reach out and connect with people I never would have been otherwise. I've grown as a person in ways that would have stunted me without them. There are some people who I know only through the internet that without them I can say with honesty I would probably be dead if not for their help through some of my more trying times.

At best, I'd say revolutions in communication have heralded great good for the world, and at worst I'd say they're neutral, much like any other form of technology. Prior to the internet, there were people making the exact same kind of arguments that are being made now after the introduction of the internet, but applying it to every other single form of advanced communication, going at least as far back as I can find as movable type, although admittedly the whole degeneracy fear stuff doesn't really start cropping up until we have things like higher literacy, cheaper means of sending letters, and the like, and then starts going into 'are you seriously claiming that the telegraph is the death of communication' territory and never stopped on its way to today.And so, yeah, that's my side of it. Sorry that it's mostly approached from emotion, but as I noted above, I tend to take the notion of making lesser connectivity because of the medium of it as attacks on my friendships, and so I tend to respond a bit more harshly than I would with regards to other topics.

 

[LVL1337N00B]

Technology is great, I dig it. I'm on the same page as Elendra with that bit about online relationships. For most of my teenage years, most of my real friends were in different states or countries. While all the people around me were partying and not giving half a fuck about my problems or really noticing me (Unless they wanted money or someone to yell at), those internet pals were talking me out of bad decisions and cheering me up.

Away from the social aspect, it's also really convenient being able to access information both new and old at any given time.

 

[Kestrel]

Personally, I'm actually not too fond of this "connectedness." I take friends out to restaurants and hang out at parks and shop at stores, but all they do is go "Uh-huh,"and "Oh, yeah?" as they mindlessly browse through their Twitter or texts or phone. I do not see any need to be so CONSTANTLY connected to your people. Socially, I feel people are more willing to say they've "communicated with others" when really they just send words across from one device to another. I don't feel the true connectedness from a person to another person.

Part of the connected era means people put a high value on sharing experiences on social media, more than enjoying said experience itself. Deep down it roots back into a status thing, because everything deep down is. This is also the selfie-thing mentioned, or generally the topic of gaining confidence from looks, because the purpose of looking good is about affecting how others see you. Note this isn't a judgement, mind you. Hell if it were, I'd be insulting the human condition itself, which is silly and hypocritical. However, I don't believe we are naturally wired to balance this with... well, general social conventions IRL.

God I just used IRL. I feel old.

Speaking of old. Though I'm also not so sure this is only a thing of the present generation. I don't really feel like giving examples (for obvious reasons, if you think 5 seconds about this) but older people often put a very high value on showing their experiences to their neighbours. Especially when they're widowed and feel excluded. They don't really get to make a lot of internet friends to compensate for that. In that context, is it so bad? I'm not sure. I have mixed feelings about it.

I think the game is about balancing it. I'm on my phone quite a bit, but when in a bar there's a point in time we decide it's enough, let everyone put their phone on the table and the first one to pick it up pays for the next round. I really like this game because it makes for a cheap night on the town. Similar exercises could help us experience things for what it is. I mean, I think it's all about calming down and letting the constant stream of information for what it is. Rather than taking a picture and move on, take the time to enjoy a beautiful landscape. So a roadtrip rule can be, wait 2 minutes before taking a picture of something (or pay for the beer, because that is always an excellent punishment.)

Well, that's enough chaotic rambling and jumping from one point to another. So here's an abrupt end to my post.