"We gather at the communal watering hole as we always did; only now we don't reach out to those around us. Instead, we communicate with far-flung souls using means that would be indistinguishable from magic for all but our most recent ancestors" (Friedberg & Varneslis, 2008, p16).
This extremely profound statement left me reflecting on the period of society in which we currently live in. Social interactions with those in our vicinity are no longer the sole, or perhaps predominant, mode of communication, but rather a secondary option competing with the growing networked public. However, we still find the need to gather in a close vicinity, e.g. cafes, while communicating with the networked public. Does this stem from a desire or need for familiarity? Perhaps, though the answer is may be more complex. Though there has been a decline of face-to-face interactions in such environments, the creation of the social network community breeds a familiarity of network-practicing peers. Much like the communal watering hole ensured the gathering of individuals wishing to converse verbally. the emergence of "Wi-Fi cafes" ensured the gathering of a like-minded grouping: individuals willing to participate in the networked society.
The progression of human interactions and gatherings has seen gradual steps. The creation of the telephone and broadcast television, for examples, have led to varying discourse about their effects on social interaction, much like the current discourse surrounding the networked society. An emergence of such prior discourse can be seen in the doubling of space concept, presented by cultural theorists Marshall McLuhan and Joshua Meyrowitz ( (Friedberg & Varneslis, 2008, p16), which displayed a presumed social benefit of the creation of television: one's simultaneous presence in two different places. Cultures which had previously relied on a singular space of close vicinity for socializing and communicating were now adapting to the nuanced perception of spaces and interactions. Broadcast television, and other technological developments, were altering, the perceptions of a culture founded on physical contact.
Though many thought-provoking discourses have been addressed in this assigned reading, I felt as though the profound leap that the internet and smart phones have taken from prior technologies has not been fully emphasized. Though telecommunications have undoubtedly altered social interactions, they have not diminished audible communications to the degree in which has been caused by the internet and smart phones.
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ReplyDeleteAs your post points out “social interactions” has been a mainstay of socializing. We have gone from the coffee houses of Greenwich Village in New York City in the 1960s, to corporate store fronts at Starbucks. The new media landscape has curtailed speaking to others and transferred that ability to using our fingers to send text messages and logging onto Facebook.
ReplyDeleteThe term social networking has created an industry within itself and has spun off many other applications. This major change of technology has affected basic literacy and has compelled educators to re-design their curriculum around the advancement of contemporary society.
I absolutely agree with the last statement you made. Although technology has a,tried social interactions, people still do gather at coffee shops, the library, bars, etc to be social. The odd thing is, even though they may be a at bar or a coffee shop, if you take a look around, how many people are on their phones versus actually communicating to the people right next to them?
ReplyDeleteYes, we still gather in cafes to drink overpriced coffees and other specialty drinks enhanced by a faked ambiance
ReplyDeletebrought to you by marketers to be alone together. There is little if any need to social network with the 'coffee lovers' around when you can socialize via virtual networks made of binary codes.
Let's not forget the signs that these coffee shops are flaunting in their windows "FREE WI-FI" as if most businesses don't offer some form of free wi-fi. They're still using the access of communication as a selling point today even though the communication itself doesn't look the same as it has historically.
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