Written vs Digital Communication

Five years ago when I joined the ARMY, I was sent off to boot camp. I sent a letter home to my girlfriend everyday. This required a lot more time and thought because I wasn’t used to sending letters, nor had I really ever sent them. Just as we spoke about in class, I put much more thought into hand written notes than digital communication. This could have something to do with the asynchronicity of the message; I knew there would be a delay, so I knew I had to really think through everything I said before I put it into the mailbox. Asynchronicity is the use of communication with a delay (e.g., letters, email). The opposite would be synchronicity, which includes forms of communication that transmit in real time (e.g., face to face, phone conversations). 

I know that when I’m at home or at least within a direct contact situation, I tend to quickly say things that otherwise, I would think twice about. I suppose that’s the part about syncronicity that we as humans in this day and age take advantage of. There’s a distinct difference between the two types of communication, and the way in which we use them is generally different by nature.

3)

Secondly, I would like to talk about Social Constructivism and its affect on society, especially in the past couple of decades, taking into consideration the newer developments such as email, texting, and even something as old as phone communication. Social Constructivism could simply be explained as the way in which a person learns as part of their interactions within any group. For example, a cell phone is a device that has shaped the way we communicate. Currently, it possesses uses such as texting, calling, and emailing, however, when cell phones were first invented, their sole purpose was for phone calls. As humans, we took that concept and ran with it. Last week, I was walking to a class and someone ran straight into me while looking at their phone after my attempts to avoid him due to his lack of attention. I can honestly say that even 5 to 10 years ago, this wouldn't have been an issue. 

In an interview with Sherry Turkle, she talks about solitude. We take on this role where we are afraid to be alone, and even if we are given a second in situations as simple as the checkout line in a grocery store, we will take out our phones and occupy ourselves rather than either take that time to ourself, or even scarier, have a conversation with strangers. We have socially constructed the way we use technology in general. Everything has been made portable, and we have everything to distract us when we need it most: when we are lonely. Additionally, solitude helps develop your social skills during childhood; it’s how you learn to speak to yourself. We could bring into question how this will affect society in the coming decades. 

In conclusion, I believe that the social construction we put behind these technologies is forever going to shape the way we interact. As the interview with Sherry Turkle states, we need places that are sacred (e.g., dinner table, church, family movie night, etc.). This could be the push society needs to set some boundaries so that technology isn't totally overrunning every aspect of our daily lives. Sometimes, we create things without realizing how they could really affect us in the long run, and as technology evolves, it’s important for us to continue to take these concerns into consideration.

Source

Fischetti, M (2014). The Networked Primate. Scientific American, 311(3), 82-85.