Commentary
Take off your Damn Ipod, Kill your TV
- by Jason , February 7, 2007
For one of my classes I am helping out an outreach program for senior citizens. I went in today with my partner Laura and gathered some information about the organization. The questions and answers will help us during the auditing process to ensure they receive the best results possible. The results we hope will help the organization gather more senior citizens, look for ways to ask the younger community for help, and establish an overall sense of community with the people living close by. The man in charge…let's use a pseudonym and call him, “the man in charge.†So, “the man in charge†was being interviewed, and we asked him how communication (news) flows throughout the company. His response was, “face to faceâ€Â…ummm, little to no use of cell phones, emails, AIM, online forums, or even landline phones (I know, what are those Jason? The ones with the operator connecting you?). I mean notes via fox would even work!!!
When I think about this, I think about our older citizens and how they gather news or information. I think about how the old ways of communication are dead. People don’t hear news face to face anymore; it’s from their friend’s blog or through text messages. I am not bashing these forms of communicating, (hello I am in one!), but when I look around campus all I see are people on their cell phones, ipods, laptops, Bluetooth’s (ugh), or even cd players (ha!). Why is communication between people become so closed off? I read a study recently that showed that people have fewer close friends nowadays. Excuse me for not having internal citations (sorry Marcy/Laura I have let you down :( ) but I don’t feel like looking it up again, so just trust me. With this lack of friends comes a lack of information (news) flow. In addition, because it doesn’t flow as much, whenever people try and have a conversation about what’s going on in the news, it lasts about 1 HOT SECOND…tsk tsk….
So I beg you: talk to people…news doesn’t always have to come from your TV, INTERNET, CELL…you can learn so much about the world and what’s going on by listening to others….
UPDATE:
One Thing I Left Out
Norah Jones has a new CD out...
Not going to lie...amazing!
~Thats all
love
-Jason
I cannot agree more with you. Here, indoctrination to privacy evolves into self-imposed-social/cultural-autosegregation. Now, imagine how a native speaker of a romance language (Spanish) feels about this? You know, we, (Hispano-Americans) “need†verbal communication in order to survive.
Very good comment.
I actually disagree. The adoption of new gadgets and technologies to connect and communicate only isolates those who have been slow to adapt and feel overwhelmed in the process. While it has become hip to diss current trends because they seemingly suck out all the meaning and singificance from our communications, I believe it has actually created new spaces where one is constantly surprised by compelling and meaningful interchages.
I have never felt more alive and more connected to the world as I do today. And as a native Spanish speaker, I have been able to exploit technology to learn new languages, understand other cultures, and grow professionally and personally.
And I am still more than able to spend quality time connecting with my friends and family face to face. And when I do so, the experience seems especially significant, hightened by the hyper-awaress that the digital explosion has bestowed on the collective conciousness.
And what's more, it was helped me connect and better understand those that don't have access to such technologies.
I personally love technology, but am a "touch person", meaning that i need to touch and feel to feel connected. I think that technology has it's place, and that for many people it may suffice for most of their needs for human relationship