Connected, but alone?

Turkle, S. (2012). Sherry Turkle: Connected, but alone? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together?language=en

Sherry Turkle is a professor in the Program of Science, Technology and Society at MIT and the founder and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. She has been studying technology and its affect on it’s users since 1984. In her riveting TED Talk she argues that through consistent use of technology and social media, we are setting ourselves up for trouble. In her speech she comments about technology, “We end up hiding from each other, even when we are connected to each other.” Becuase of our connection to technology and social media, we can go in and out of all the places we are and want to be, only paying attention to what interests us. She argues that relationships are messy and complicated and that we clean them up through technology.

The aspects of the talk that most connected to my research regarding youth and social media, was when Turkle discussed the importance of our youth learning how to self reflect. What is ending up happening now that kids are constantly connected online, is that they are losing their ability to self reflect. Being alone often creates a feeling of panic instead of thought. So many of our youth feel lonely and so badly want intimacy and closeness, but at the same time are afraid of that intimacy. Turkle argues, “We turn to technology to give us what we want in a way we can control.” This comment really got me thinking about the cons of social media on the young. Because they are so immersed in social media, they avoid learning self reflection, how to deal with life when things are out of control, and how to engage in face to face relationships. Our youth are getting used to being alone while physically together. As I am researching how often teens are using social media, Turkle’s talk sheds additional consequences of increased use of technology and social media. While there are some benefits, there are significant downsides to continual connection to social media. Those downsides cannot be ignored.

Being Thirteen: Inside The Secret World of Teens

CNN Special Report (2015, October 5). Being Thirteen: Inside The Secret World of Teens. Retrieved on June 27, 2016 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-9LtTtkg04

What is it like being 13 in the age of social media? CNN conducted a report over a two-year span. They followed 200 different 8th graders from across the country. They followed their social media accounts, conducted surveys and interacted with both the individuals and their parents. The video portrays the shocking and sobering findings of their study. Anderson Cooper is the narrator of the film as it follows the lives and posts of a number of 13 year olds. It covers topics regarding why students are so consumed with social media, the benefits of social media, the dangers of social media and the importance of parent involvement.

From this incredibly informative video, I learned so much. Many teens check their social media feeds a number of times throughout the day (some over 100 times). They check their phones as often as they do for 3 main reasons:

• 21% want to make sure people aren’t talking about them.
• 36% want to make sure friends aren’t doing things without them.
• 61% want to see if their posts are getting likes and comments.

For many of them, social media has become a popularity status. The goal is to look at your likes and favorites and then compare them to others. Status is so important that you can even buy likes and favorites on Twitter and Facebook. Prior to this video, I was not aware how fearful students are of being disliked or talked poorly about. I assumed that many of them were worried about missing out, but I was shocked at how negative the talk is on social media. For many users, there is something called TBR (To Be Rude). The 8th graders will write “TBR” and then, next to it, can pretty much say whatever they want to someone else over social media. There is so much that goes on in social media that is rude, malicious and inappropriate. Teens remove themselves emotionally from what they say because it’s not face to face with a person. As a result, they often times don’t have to face consequences for what they say online. It was also astonishing how many of these girls and boys were completely consumed with social media. During and interview, two girls said the following about getting their phones taken away: “I’d rather not eat for a week, than get my phone taken away.” Another student said, “I hate getting my phone taken away. It is like the worst thing in the world”. These 13 year old kids would rather get grounded or receive almost any other punishment other than taking away their phone.

Through this video, I was able to better understand the pros and cons of social media. I understand that social media can be very positive for young kids. It can be a place of support, acceptance, communication and honesty. However, it can also be a place to vent anger, backstab their friends, gossip and sabotage others. This movie is so valuable to my guiding questions because I can hear first hand from a number of 13 year olds how social media affects them, both positively and negatively.