Social Networking under Attack
Last Saturday the Guardian ran an interesting article about a current trend of criticism of social networking technologies (e.g. websites such as Twitter and Facebook). Read the article here
The arguments include claims that social networking makes us lazier, less able to digest large quantities of information, and less human than we were before. An example of this is where we go into a cafe and find people sitting at their laptops or tapping away on their mobile devices, whilst not actually talking to the people around them. So in effect, we ignore the real people around us, and focus instead on communicating through our electronic devices.
Those who disagree with these arguments state that social networking actually increases communication and helps us bridge geographical distances. They also argue that the idea that, before the new technologies existed, people used to chat with those around them is actually not true.
So the question is, did people really used to chat to each other more (on buses and in cafes) than they do today? And are we now less sociable in public because we're all too busy using our mobile phones instead? As I remember it, people used to read books and newspapers on buses and trains. They didn't engage in more conversation with strangers than they do today. This was also true in cafes.
What do you think?
The arguments include claims that social networking makes us lazier, less able to digest large quantities of information, and less human than we were before. An example of this is where we go into a cafe and find people sitting at their laptops or tapping away on their mobile devices, whilst not actually talking to the people around them. So in effect, we ignore the real people around us, and focus instead on communicating through our electronic devices.
Those who disagree with these arguments state that social networking actually increases communication and helps us bridge geographical distances. They also argue that the idea that, before the new technologies existed, people used to chat with those around them is actually not true.
So the question is, did people really used to chat to each other more (on buses and in cafes) than they do today? And are we now less sociable in public because we're all too busy using our mobile phones instead? As I remember it, people used to read books and newspapers on buses and trains. They didn't engage in more conversation with strangers than they do today. This was also true in cafes.
What do you think?
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