Alone Together - Sherry Turkle talk at LSE
I’m still ruminating over Sherry Turkle’s talk at LSE last night.
Her research led her to find that people were in constant communication no longer engaging with others in the moment but using texting/using their phone to take them away from engaging and interacting in real time. It seems to me crazy that people would want to go for a walk on the beach with their kids and yet continue to text or have dinner with their partner, unable to put down or turn of their mobile phones. Surely one only has to apply an modicum of common sense, but then what is common sense? Perhaps it’s learnt in our formative years? If it comes from a learnt value system they how do we ensure that this information is available to all and then where is the balance between guidelines and rules?
She also reported on a shift from mobile connectivity being used to create a feeling or experience rather than solely used to report on a feeling/experience you’ve had or are having and want to share. I’ve often had this feeling with technology, I want to engage, whether its to check-in, update my status, tweet about a relevatory thought or a cool place, experience I’m having and yet I feel that engaging in this process distances me from the present. But once the feeling has past, the event has finished, tweeting about it somehow seems less relevant…
Turkle’s book is based on the fact she feels something is amiss. She is in agreement that there are many positive aspects to our digital lives and that reliance on anything from social media to smartphones will continue to grow. Her call to arms is that we need to ignite discussions around the concept of privacy. This concept of privacy is based on our human rights within a democracy, the real worry that online we can be watched, our moves under surveillance and all the while we are unaware, ignorant or apathetic to the real dangers of loss of privacy. What needs to be discussed is how we create a framework that perhaps moves towards a ‘democratic’ web rather than a ‘free’ web?
