Technology and Social Interaction

In recent years, there has been a huge explosion of devices that allow us to connect to the internet while on the go.  There has also been a significant increase the number of hours spent online and the number of social network sites to go to.  This all has combined to create a time where internet users are at an all time high.  With so much time spent on the internet, face-to-face contact with people has decreased.  Using this reasoning, I feel that technology has had a negative impact on face-to-face interaction because it has decreased the importance of it.

I believe that the internet is a great way to keep in touch with old friends that live far enough away that it is impossible to meet face-to-face and it is a good way to be introduced to people in your area that have similar interests, including dating sites.  As for message boards and online gaming, I think that the internet is a good place to meet people as well because you can find so many people that will have similar interests to you by expanding your horizon to all internet users.  And face-to-face interaction with these people is not necessary because you have a relationship with them solely for online interactions and discussions.

A meaningful relationship requires more than online interactions.  A meaningful relationship is more than an occasional online chat.  I believe that for a meaningful relationship to exist, face-to-face contact is a necessity.  You cannot truly know how someone feels online like how you can tell in person.  And sometimes, there is nothing quite like holding someone- an impossibility with a pure online relationship.  I feel like by engaging in online relationships we are sacrificing some personal relationships but overall adding to the number of relationships we engage in.  I believe that the time spent on online relationships should be kept to a minimum in order to maximize the time spent on personal relationships.  However, I feel like technology has significantly aided people in long distance relationships allowing them to get as much out of online communication as they can. 

I like the idea of going to a real place in order to interact with people, like a real life Facebook, but then I realize that I’m sitting in one right now.  Go figure.

Social Networking and Privacy

Throughout high school, my parents always warned me about the dangers associated with social networking sites.  I still had a MySpace early in high school, and I created a Facebook my junior year, but I never spent much time on them.  In fact, I spent much more time playing video games than on these sites.  Now, I only use Facebook, and I deleted my MySpace account shortly after creating a Facebook because almost none of my friends were using it anymore.  Now, I check my Facebook daily, and occasionally post something rather than just glance at my feed for a few seconds.  But this never amounts to more than a few minutes.  I use Facebook relatively little compared to texting or calling people, which usually amounts to 1-3 hours per day.

I feel that the cultural move towards social networking and constant access is not a negative trend.  Networking is a very convenient way for groups of people to communicate and to keep in touch with a wide range of people from around the world.  I might not call or email and old friends, but I would certainly post something on their wall.  However, I feel that the loss of privacy that can sometimes be associated with these activities is a negative trend.  I do not like that Facebook has an option to show the world exactly where you are, or for potential employers to look at pictures of what you did last weekend.  This entanglement of our personal lives and technology can allow us to be more connected but we have to watch out for who’s reading what we’re doing. I am very careful about this.  I have never posted or texted anything that I regretted because I always think about who my audience is before I publish something.  This is the major reason as to why I mostly look at my feed on Facebook rather than post something.  I do worry about my privacy when it comes to these new technologies, and that is why I always manage my privacy settings and give good passwords to all my accounts.  I feel that social networks can have huge advantages as long as people are careful and truly understand what they are doing when they use them.

My Media Diet

§  Thursday, Jan  13^th

o   2 hours online (majority of time was research for the weekend trip, but rest was Facebook (10 min))

o   Skype (2 hours)

o   Phone

§  Checking email ( 5 min)

§  Texting (30 min)

§  Racing game (1 hour)

§  Calling friends (5 min)

o   Pandora radio

§  Friday, Jan 14^th

o   2.5 hours online (most of the time was spent on homework. Again, 10 min on Facebook)

o   3 hours watching a  thriller movie

o   1 hour playing video games

o   Phone

§  Checking email ( 5 min)

§  Texting (20 min)

§  Racing game (30 min)

§  Calling family (15 min)

o   Pandora Radio

§  Saturday, Jan 16^th

o   1 hour online (just wasting time, 10 min on Facebook, and the rest on YouTube)

o   5 hours watching movies (comedy and action)

o   Phone

§  Checking email ( 5 min)

§  Texting (40 min)

§  Racing game (2 hours)

§  Calling family and friends (40 min)

§  Sunday, Jan 17^th

o   5 min online (quick visit to Facebook)

o   Phone

§  Checking email ( 5 min)

§  Texting (30 min)

§  Monday, Jan 18^th

o   4 hours online (2 hours doing homework, 1 hour on eBay, 10 min on Facebook and the rest wasting time.)

o   30 min watching comedy TV on Hulu

o   Phone

§  Checking email ( 5 min)

§  Texting (10 min)

§  Racing game (1 hour)

§  Calling  friends (52 min)

o   Pandora Radio

     After looking at my media consumption for the past five days, I have noticed several patterns. First of all, I do very similar things every day.  I use my phone A LOT. I use my phone to check my email, go on Facebook, text, call friends and family, play games, and listen to music. I rarely check my email or go on Facebook from a real computer.  However, I use a computer to do my homework, as all but one of my classes post assignments and readings online, and this makes up the majority of my time online.  The entirety of the reading I’ve done over the past five days was for school. I realized that the rest of the day that I am not in class, working out, or on my phone, I am with my friends, going on trips, going out to dinner, or watching movies and TV.  That being said, I feel like some of this data is slightly skewed from normalcy as it was a long holiday weekend.

     My media diet shows that I am always “connected.” I always have my phone on me and I am always notified if someone tries to contact me, whether it is via email, text, or call. Because of this, I never check sites without knowing that something is already there waiting for me. I feel like this has decreased the amount of time that I spend online.  However, I feel like I spend a comparatively equal amount of time accessing the media compared to other people my age. Since this is the case, I feel that American society as a whole is moving towards being online all the time.  I think that all electronic devices will soon have access to the internet, and as my generation ages, the percentage of society who spends more than 6 hours a day connected to the media will shoot way up. I am comfortable with my level of media consumption.  Almost all consumption is communicating with friends or doing schoolwork, and both of these are very important to me. I feel that the various technologies I use make it easier to do both of these more effectively.  My social location highly influences my consumption though; since I’m in college, my immersion in friends, activities, and school work pushes me to be online more. I fell like my life has a good balance between being ‘connected’ with friends and actually spending time with friends and this exercise was really the first time I’ve put any thought to my electronic versus in person interactions and I’m happy with the results.

Interesting data from Google web history.  This is data from my desktop for the past 12 months.

Intro

Hello. My name is John Mark Kreikebaum.  This blog is for part of a class at Santa Clara University. I will be exploring how cell phones have progressed and advanced in recent years.  I might explore the following questions in addition to other required posts.

Has society developed a social dependence on cell phones?
What are the cultural implications of this dependence?
Have cell phones changed dating and relationships?
Are there other benefits of this progression and widespread adaptation of cell phones?

Enjoy!