BookTalk.org

Do people think that there are aspects of digi-tech use that are regressive for some people? I'm an avid user but last year I became concerned about some aspects of social media use and the way that digi-tech is moving.

I have a non-fiction book out (Digital Downsize) about the social and psychological issues concerned with digital technology: behavioural change, social isolation, addiction and so on (it is not about becoming a luddite - just more aware and creative about how one uses tech).

I'd love to hear your views!

Nyla
@nylanaseer
http://nylanaseer.co.uk/digital-downsize

Sherry Turkle's book on this is a very good read:

http://www.amazon.com/Alone-Together-Ex ... 0465031463

If anything, what I have personally observed is that our younger generation has poor face-face social skills as a direct result of this abbreviated, shallow electronic communication.

I totally agree. The general 'de-skilling' can extend past communication to thinking and social resilience...how many people can't cope with an 'unfriend'...

Nyla

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Downsize- ... l+downsize

Your book does sound like something I'd like to read

Thanks!

pomreader wrote:how many people can't cope with an 'unfriend'...

yeah, sense of self, that is, how one answers the question "who am i" that is, how someone thinks of what and who they are, it's mad isn't it how some people care so much about what others (external) think of them when it comes to their sense of self, the internal world is a mystery still to them.

still, it wasn't till i hit 40 odd that i had half a clue, so perhaps it's not so surprising.

what was that quote?

“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

Pascal

rock on!

I think social media creates a space where it is too easy to retreat to a group of like minded people. And if there happens to be someone different in that group they are too easy to ignore. Real confrontation is disappearing. I can put a pink equal sign as my profile pic on facebook that way all my friends who have a pink equal sign as their profile pic can see it. It's an impotent act without confrontation. I know people argue online but it's a bit like shooting a guided missile at someone on a screen compared to having to look someone in the eye while you strangle them.

Does it actually mean anything anyway to have an online badge...do half the people out there know what they are supposed to be part of?

Face to face debate means you have to know what you are talking about - and the knocks you get teach you how to reflect and think about your position on a subject. Not being equipped to think is very worrying at societal level.

Don't get me wrong: I use social media a lot and digital technology has opened up the world like never before but it is important not to lose face to face skills.

Ptimb wrote:I think social media creates a space where it is too easy to retreat to a group of like minded people. And if there happens to be someone different in that group they are too easy to ignore. Real confrontation is disappearing. I can put a pink equal sign as my profile pic on facebook that way all my friends who have a pink equal sign as their profile pic can see it. It's an impotent act without confrontation. I know people argue online but it's a bit like shooting a guided missile at someone on a screen compared to having to look someone in the eye while you strangle them.

I think that's an excellent point.

Also, it's become second nature to disregard intellectual courtesy.
Someone is more likely NOT to be as rude, condescending, obnoxious, and impolite when they are speaking to someone in the flesh, as opposed to being an asshole behind the safety of a computer monitor.
It's kind of like the person you're confronting online has been dehumanized enough to treat him inhumanely.
Of course it's impossible to be humane in a virtual world, isn't it?

We are filtering out something of what it is to be fully human while engaged in social setting.

pomreader wrote:Does it actually mean anything anyway to have an online badge...do half the people out there know what they are supposed to be part of?

Face to face debate means you have to know what you are talking about - and the knocks you get teach you how to reflect and think about your position on a subject. Not being equipped to think is very worrying at societal level.

Don't get me wrong: I use social media a lot and digital technology has opened up the world like never before but it is important not to lose face to face skills.

Everyone online gets to be a google scholar.

Online badges are interesting along with the online personalities people develop. It seems easier to identify how people wish to be perceived because of social media. It's funny to see how some of my friends personalities are different from what they try to project online. I'm sure they think the same about me.

When it comes to those face to face skills, I know I am affected. I'm in my mid 20's and have no idea how to start a conversation with a new person. I have to go to taverns where the average person is over 35 in order to have a conversation with a stranger.