This TED talk helped me to be aware of just how much I personally am relying on its services rather than talking with someone face-to-face, in-person.
I had no idea how scarily true Sherry Turkle's words were.
Facebook is a social media site that I use on a daily basis for varied lengths of time, and I use it to stay updated on what my friends and acquaintances are doing. It's marvellous for keeping just a minimal amount of contact with others, just enough to keep them in our lives.
But how close are we to each and every Facebook friend we have?
My best friend from elementary school and I are friends on Facebook.
I haven't contacted him in months.
I connected with almost my whole grade all through high school.
I haven't called a single one of them in years.
Facebook and other similar social media sites are not truly ways of connecting with others.
There's a difference between being connected with someone, and connecting with someone. Technology can give us the illusion of connecting with someone, but until we're in front of the person we're talking/tweeting/messaging to, we can't connect. We can only type.
Typing is not connecting. Connecting is connecting.
Graydon, your distinction between connected and 'connecting' is an important one to remember, particularly as you begin your teaching career. Even with the aid of technology and media, really connecting with someone requires a 'human' touch - empathy, caring, supportive stance, etc. This can still occur when using technology, with the ability to truly connect with others in a variety of contexts and cultures. But it should not come at the expense of those in our physical lives - our family, friends, students, colleagues.
ReplyDeleteYour classmate, Jessica, posted a response that has a great video that connects to your ideas here. Hope you can connect to her blog and leave a response for her: http://filipozzi.weebly.com/blog/to-ponder
Keep connecting your voice to others in meaningful ways!
Helen DW