1

JewellWashington
Composition1
April20,2016
MoreRobotthanHuman

Technologyisgrowingeverysingleday.Someonesomewhereisimprovingitorcoming

upwithsomethingnew.Ihavewatchedmylilsistergrowuptotheteenagersheis.Iwasthere
whenshegotherfirstphone.Shewassoexcitedandhappy.Asshegotoldershebegantonot
communicatewithmeasmuchlikeweusetodo.Iknowwhenyouareateenageryoumake
friends,butitseemedastimewentbyshewasmoreonherphonethananythingelse.Nowtoday
mylittlesisterstaysuphoursonherphoneandsheevenhastohaveitonforhertosleep.Itis
gottentothepointwheresheisn'tgettingenoughsleepthatsheisfallingasleepinclass.The
CenterfortheDigitalFutureattheUSCAnnenbergSchoolstudyfoundthatthepercentageof
peoplereportinglessfacetofacetimewithfamilyintheirhomesrosefrom8%in2000to34%
in2011.Myquestiontothisisdigitalcommunicationdamaginghowtheyouthrelatetoeach
otherandthemselves?
Formuchofouryouth,digitalcommunication,suchasexcessiveuseof
socialmediaandtexting,canbeharmfultotheirpersonalandsocialdevelopment.Thisdamage
canstemfromrestrictiononpersonalidentity,alackofselfreflection,andamissingdesireto
establishauthentic,facetofacerelationships.

Thefirstreasonistherestrictiononpersonalidentityformation.TheevidenceIfoundto
supportoneofmyreasonsisfromHarvardresearchersGardnerandDavis.Theirresearch

showsthatalargenumberofteensonlywantedtobeacelebrity.Frommyunderstandingthe
researchistryingtosayisthatteensinthisgenerationwanttobesomeonethattheyarenot.
Teenswanttobethecelebritythattheyseeonsocialmediainsteadoffindingoutwhotheyare.
ThesecondreasonisaquotefromSherryTurklestatingSolitudeiswhereyoufind
yourself.Ifyouareunsureofwhatsolitudemeansitisthestateorsituationofbeingalone.
WhatTurkleistryingtosayinmyopinioniswhenyouarealoneanditisjustyourselfthatis
whereyoustarttounderstandwhoyouareasanindividual.Wheninsolitudeitgivesyouclarity
andaclearofmindforyoutogiveyourselfatimetothinkandfindwhoyouare.

Thethirdreasonisamissingdesiretoestablishafacetofacerelationship.Thereareso
manywebsitesandsocialmediathatallowspeopletocommunicatesuchasFacebook,
Instagram,Twitter,andSnapchat.AresearchbyCornellUniversitysBrunoGoncalvesused
Twitterdatatoshowthatdespitethecurrentabilitytoconnectwithvastamountsofpeoplevia
theInternet,apersoncanstillonlytrulymaintainafriendshipwithamaximumof100to200
realfriendsintheirsocialnetwork(TechnologyisDestroying).Basically,Mrs.Nillesissayingis
thateventhoughwehavetonsoffriendswereallydontknowthem.Wecanonlyhaveacertain
amountofpeopleinourlivesthatwereallyknowandtrust.
Letmetellyouafunnystorythatwillmakeyougiggle.Well,itallstartedwhenmy
sisterandIweredrivingtogogetourhairdone.Onourwaythereourphoneswereontheverge
ofdying.Itwasreallyweirdtothebothofushowbothofourphoneswereabouttodie.Okayso
bythetimeweweredonegettingourhairdone,bothourphoneswereon5%.Wedecidedthat
wewantedsomethingtoeatthatiswhenmysistersgirlfriendcalled.Sinceweweregoing

towardsthatwayanyway,wedecidedtopickherupandjoinusforlunch.Theplacewedecided
toeatwasBJsrestaurant.Itwasmyfirsttimethereandtheplacewasamazingincludingthe
food.Afterwehadorderedourfoodwewerewaiting,sotopassthetimewedecidedtogeton
ourphonesbutguesswhat.Theywerebothdead.Thatwasjustatragedytobothofus.Sosince
wecouldn'tgetonourphonesmeandmysisterdecidedtohaveaconversationtopassthetime
tillourfoodhadtocome.Itwasveryinterestingandfuntotalkandlaughwithher.Thefunny
partisasmeandmysisterweretalkingwelookoverandseehergirlfriendonphonenoteven
payingattention.ThatiswhenIfinallyrealizedthatwhatIwaswritingmypaperaboutwas
happeningrightinfrontofmyeyes.That'swhenIexplainedittomysisterandtheonlything
shecoulddoislaugh.Humaninteractionisanimportantthingbecausewhatwouldyoudoif
youdidnthavefacebook,twitterorinstagram,whatthen?
Therearesomepeoplethatmaydisagreewithmythesisondigitalcommunication
damagingtheyouth.Facebookandothersocialmediamakesiteasiertocommunicatewith
people.Ithelpstomeetnewpeopleandreconnectwitholdones(QuanHaase&Yuang2010).
WhileitistruethatFacebookandsocialmediamakesiteasiertocommunicatewithpeopleand
ithelpstomeetnewpeopleandreconnectwitholdones,itdoesnotnecessarilyfollowthatitisa
goodthing.Admittedly,tosayfrompersonalexperienceyes,socialmediaordigital
communicationitdoeshelptoreconnectwitholdfriendsandmeetnewones.QuanHaase&
Yuangarerightabouthowsocialmediadoeshelpusalotmorethanwethink.AmyjoMartinis
a46AmericanauthorandtheCEOofDigitalRoyalty.Mrs.Martinherselfsays,Socialmedia
ischangingthewaywecommunicateandthewayweareperceived,bothpositivelyand
negatively.Everytimeyoupostaphoto,orupdateyourstatus,youarecontributingtoyourown

digitalfootprintandpersonalbrand.Inotherwords,Mrs.Martinbelievesthateventhough
socialmediaischangingthewaywecommunicateitisourchoiceinhowweperceiveitanduse
it.Weareourownselvesandwemakeourowndecisions.Itisourchoiceinhowweuseit
eitherinagoodwayorbadwaybecausewearetheonlypersontocontributetoourfootprint.
Theyouthofthisgenerationdependsonsocialmediaandelectronicstocommunicate
withoneanother.Thequestioniswhatifwelosttheinternetordidn'tevenhaveitatallhow
wouldwecommunicatethenwithsmokesignals?.Itisourchoicetodecidewhetherornottolet
thedigitalworldcontrolusandturnusmoreintorobotsthanhumans.Makeyourchoicewisely.

JewellWashington

JewellWashington
RHET11
April26,2016

WorksCited

Markoff,StevenC."SocialNetworkingProCon.org."
ProConorgHeadlines
.USCAnnenbergSchool
CenterfortheDigitalFuture,Jan.2012.Web.20Apr.2016.

Turkle,Sherry,Connected,butalone?
Ted
.Ted.February2012.Web.April162016.

Gardner,Howard,andKatieDavis."DigitalandPreDigitalMediaandthePackaged
Self."
TheAppGeneration:HowToday'sYouthNavigateIdentity,Intimacy,andImaginationina
DigitalWorld
.NewHavenandLondon:YaleUP,2013.7072.Print.

Young,QuanHaase."IndextoBulletinofScience,Technology&Society."
BulletinofScience,
Technology&Society
26.6(2006):52427.
AnOverviewofFacebook
.Sage,2010.Web.25Apr.
2016.