How Does Technology Influence The Ability To Mature And Form Deep Relationships With Others?

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Prof. Cantor
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How does technology influence the ability to mature and form deep relationships with others?
Sherry Turkle’s “The flight from conversation” argues that technology has improved communication, but this has resulted in people engaging fewer personal conversations. Humans are increasingly dependent on technology and electronic devices for communication, but people have fewer genuine companions and conversations than before. Similarly, Jean Twenge’s article “Have smartphones destroyed a generation” highlights that the youth engage in less in-person interaction than previous generations. The youth are more active smartphone users than older people, but are least likely to interact with others at a personal level. Nonetheless, even among the youth highlighted there are those who recognize recognized the need to use digital technologies less often and having more face-to-face conversations. Technology has facilitated communication and connection, but affected the people’s ability to form deep relationships, and interact face-to-face while also creating distance.
Online users are more likely to be alone and substitute personal relationships with online and digital electronics communication. “WE live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection” (Turkle 1). The author cautions that too much reliance on technology has resulted in people deliberately avoiding conversations because they are used to using digital devices. Face-to-face conversations are important as they help communicators to connect better and establish mutual trust, but the youth are reluctant to interact personally with others. Furthermore, people now expect a lot form technology and less form each other that his has been linked with the provide the illusion of companionship where people are connected yet alone and lonely. Being closely connected to others through online communication does not automatically translate to strong offline relationships and good communication skills. Encouraging and supporting more face-to-face conversations, would likely result in increased human interaction and bring people together with technology-mediated communication having less influence on their interactions. “Those mall trips are infrequent—about once a month. More often, Athena and her friends spend time together on their phones, unchaperoned” (Twenge 2). The youth spend too much time chatting with their peer using smartphones that they do not take time to interact with their close family members. People are connected yet still choose to use digital technology tools and not engage in face-to-face conversations and it is as if technology allows people to hide from each other. People may act and react differently in real life compare to how they present themselves and offline interactions allow them to make real connections unlike in online interactions. Technology affects our ability to mature negatively as people move away for personal reactions and connections in real life. Texting and online communication are increasingly preferred, yet the youth can call, but choose not to. Focus on enhancing connection in the real life will improve the ability of technology users to interact more and engage with others in conversations.
The isolating effects of technology are linked to the way technologically mediated social interaction have resulted on people relying too much on technology to communicate and less personal interaction. “We’ve become accustomed to a new way of being “alone together” (Turkle1). There is less need for face-to-face interactions since technology facilitates communication when people can keep touch any time with others and some see no need to build social skills “Face-To-Face conversation unfolds slowly. It teaches patience. When we communicate on our digital devices, we learn different habits” (Turkle 1). The author argued that that people now choose to interact and engage in online conversations at their convenient time, but increased connectivity isolates people since they ignore that communication is a two-way process. Increased relianc...