BRIONES, JEWEL JOI A.

ARC- 2103
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

The Fight from Conversation

by Sherry Turkle

Have you ever been in the living room with your family busy tapping through their
phones? Have you ever been on a date with your friend/ boyfriend/girlfriend and you feel
annoyed because they pay more attention to their phones rather than you? Have you ever been to
a movie night, but all your friends are busy doing Facebook lives, Instagram stories, and twitter
updates? Or Have you ever been in a public place where you are conscious about everything and
feel shy and the only way to escape from that is to get your phone and be busy with it? The use
of technology has been so widespread that people spend more time on it. One of the many
articles in the New York Times discussed this topic entitled “The Flight from Conversation”
written by Sherry Turkle and it was published on April 21, 2012. This editorial article discusses
the negative impact of technology on people, in their conversations, relationships and even self-
esteem.

Throughout the time, I can see that technology has been rapidly changing through every
generation. As I read the article, Turkle uses her own term that has a meaning which is “Alone-
together” She stated that people, especially adults, prefer to rely on social media rather than to
speak with their colleagues and that she says “A businessman laments that he no longer has
colleagues at work. He doesn’t stop by to talk; he doesn’t call. He says that he doesn’t want to
interrupt them. He says they’re ‘too busy with their email.” This example made me realize that
people often choose to stare at their gadgets and tap here, tap there. People prefer to talk to each
other through social media because some may find their comfort zone to easily express their
feelings and I think that’s one of the reasons why people use technology, because they find
themselves “alone-together”. Another example of alone together is when she witness a scene in a
college campus where in she says; “Walking through a college library or the campus of a high-
tech start up, one sees the same thing: we are together, but each of us is in our own bubble,
furiously connected to keyboards and tiny touch screens.” I think that this example is pretty well
known by everybody because everyone is doing it, everyone has their own bubbles, their own
world that no one can go and invade. It is also one of the reasons why people are interconnected
not physically but through the Internet where everybody is constantly talking, posting, and
capturing photos.

Moreover, I must say that people are losing their ability to interact with others like they
will choose to communicate using their cellphones and computers. People tend to lose their
touch with someone, it has a big difference when someone tells you “I love you” in face-to-face
and in a text message. Even though it is so easy to get in touch with many people in any corner
of the world using technology, it doesn't compare to happiness when people get to say their true
feelings and opinions in person. I think that we are drawn to the faster communication that the
relationship with someone is slowly fading away because I feel that in person, we can learn more
about the other person through their word choice, raw emotions, and body language.

I certainly believe that technology makes a huge difference in our world today. It gives us
the ability to do something easier. Also, thanks to technology, many of the goals and inventions
now are becoming reality even if everyone is far apart from each other. Indeed, technology has a
bright side but to be honest as what I have said earlier, we are drawn to it and we have lost many
skills that we have. I myself lost the communication skills because I am afraid to let others see
my real self in social media and I think that they might misunderstand me. I think being like that
is frustrating yet being careful on using social media and letting people just jump into my life
and let them criticize what I do and what I say. Therefore, I think that being with someone in
person and talking to them not through the phones but talking to them personally is so much
better. Especially those unscripted moments where I think we realize how good it is to hear our
friends’ laugh, how we love our mom’s voice being so historical. We can treasure these little
things forever that we can’t get through text messages. To sum it all up, we are free to choose
whatever we want, but at the end of the day creating memories is better in person than in a cell
phone.