Group 6 - Turkle

Kayleigh Johnson
Jeff Mattfield
Kara Phillips

A vague sense of Turkle's thesis is captured in the subtitle of the reading: “Thanks to technology, people have never been more connected—or more alienated” (Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst 270). As Turkle goes on to explain, what she means by this is that people are so connected through technology that they are extremely disconnected when they are in personal settings. People are always on their cell phones, laptops, etc., so even when they are in a meeting, in a class, or hanging out with friends, they are not entirely “there.” People often text, update their Facebook statuses, etc., even when they are with other people. Turkle says that because of technology, people are becoming less personal and more distanced from everyone around them.

People these days are more concerned with their personal networks and electronics then having a face-to-face conversation or meeting. Sherry Turkle brought up that people feel they are “being put on pause” when having a conversation, it’s hard to communicate with others when someone is text messaging, checking their e-mail, or updating their status. She brings up that we are no longer needed in person for a physical conversation, that the preference is leading to complete virtual communication. Overall, Turkle is concerned with the type people we are becoming since we are so obsessed with our machines and technology.

Turkle would agree with what Chast is trying to portray in his cartoon. Chast is showing that we once paid so much attention to language and spoke very elegantly, but now everyone uses “text lingo” instead because of technology. Turkle thinks that people are extremely disconnected in person because of technology, so she would probably agree with Chast's point. Turkle would probably go on to say that even lovers are disconnected and don't take the time to make their communication elegant or well-thought-out because of technology.

With Amy Goldwasser's essay on page 236, however, Turkle would find fault. Goldwasser believes that there is nothing wrong with the younger generation embracing technology. She argues that recent studies, which suggest that teenagers are less literate than earlier generations, have ignored that teens read and write on the Internet rather than on paper and are learning no less than their parents did with it. Turkle would disagree that the Internet is a good thing, though. Sure, teenagers may read and write, but the harm is that they lose out on emotional growth. She argues that a culture of cell phones has communication, for sure, but not self-reflection, claiming that it's healthier to have an emotion and to share it than to desire an emotion and to solicit it (276).

Works Cited

Chast, Roz. "The I.M.'s of Romeo and Juliet." Cartoon. New Yorker Feb 4, 2002. Rpt. in They Say/I Say with Readings. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. 282. Print.

Goldwasser, Amy. "What's the Matter with Kids Today?" Salon. 2008. Rpt. in They Say/I Say with Readings. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. 236-240. Print.

Turkle, Sherry. "Can You Hear Me Now?" Forbes. 2007. Rpt. in They Say/I Say with Readings. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. 270-280. Print.