Technology: The New Best Friend?

Technology and the internet are becoming a more prominent part of people's lives at an alarming rate. People are replacing face to face interactions with typing letters on a screen so they pop up on someone else's. In her second Ted Talks, Sherry Turkle talks about this among other new developments being made. Turkle says that we are setting ourselves up for isolation in this web of trying to be connected. An idea she gave to increase face to face interactions was to create zones where you couldn't have any devices of any sort. When I was in middle school and high school my parents did this. The downstairs part of the house was a no cell phone zone and I had to ask permission in order to watch the TV, they said that if I was downstairs and with them I shouldn't be on my phone. The only exception to this rule was when I was with friends and we were hanging out downstairs I could have my phone because I wasn't with my parents anyway. At the time I hated this rule and thought it didn't make sense, but looking back now I see how important it was. Especially because my parents now both have smart phones and my two younger sisters have tablets and when I go to visit them at holidays they often spend time sitting together with the TV on, all on their own devices. Occasionally one will laugh and show everyone a meme they thought was funny or find a video they want to share because of the news it contains, but this is very different from the childhood I had.

I have been trying to make an effort to become a better listener. I took an interpersonal communications class where we had to create a goal for ourselves and find a way to help progress towards accomplishing that goal. Mine was to become a better listener. I do this by putting my phone down, turning down music in the car if that is where we are, and looking at the person speaking. I try to ask them questions and remember details about our conversation that I can bring up another time. For example, I have a friend who is getting married and when she mentioned meeting with a wedding planner I asked her a few weeks later about how that went.

I'm not saying that I don't use technology, I'll admit to my love for Instagram, but I am aware of it and try to limit my fueling of my Instagram love when I am spending time with other people and I try to make an effort to hangout with people rather just text them to keep in contact. I wouldn't go as far as saying I'm part of any community on social media, but I do see them. I appreciate the InstaMom community and the support they have for one another. Often times these moms will have little shops on sites like Etsy and other moms will promote them through pictures when they purchase things from them. These moms are able to earn a little extra money while staying at home with their children. Fitness is another community on Instagram that I enjoy. Many people make fitness Instagrams where they post videos of them working out and post motivational progress and pictures and various other thing on their page to help people who are newer to lifting. Another community is the gaming community, I don't know much about it at all because I do not play any online games, not even those like Candy Crush, but I know that there are gatherings like ComicCon where they will get together and dress up as characters. This is a way that online gaming does bring people together for face to face interactions.