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Tomihama1
Weekly Reading Report #1

Directions: After reading and annotating, complete the following table and collect it with other
weekly reports to help you develop your findings and prepare for the assessments.
Title: Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other
Author: Sherry Turkle
Pages read: 37
Guiding Question(s): How has the Influence of the internet altered this generation?
Summary statements of the authors main ideas
Author, Sherry Turkle, strongly believes that technology is interfering with our personal
connections with one another. She explains how technology has slowly advanced and how it
is used as a simulation of companionship. She states that Alone
Together is about how we are

changed as technology offers us substitutes for connecting with each other face-to-face (11).
Embedded quotation (page #)

1. Technology is
seductive when what it
offers meets our human
vulnerabilities (1).
2. Digital connections
and the sociable robot
may offer the illusion
of companionship
without the demands of
friendship (1).
3. It was clear that
people that what people
mostly want from
public space is to be
alone with their
personal networks
(14).
4. We are increasingly
connected to each other
but oddly more alone:
in intimacy, new
solitudes (19).
How does it answer/relate to the Guiding

Question?
1. This shows that we use technology and
more because it can satisfy our
vulnerabilities. Instead of
communicating with our peers, we seek
the comfort of technology to fulfil our
needs.
2. Sometimes, people just need someone to
talk to not necessarily a friend and
technology offers that. It causes us to
confide in our devices rather than
confiding in each other.
3. Social media has caused people to prefer
to scroll through their feed instead of
conversing with those around them. This
quote is saying that all though we are in
public, we would much rather be on our
phones.
4. We still communicate with our peers, but
not face-to-face. Turkle emphasizes that
we could all be together in a room, and
still all be alone. Although we are
together, we aren't communicating with
one another which makes it seem like we
are not even together, we are alone.
Unfamiliar words
-
Augur
Chauvinism
Titrate
Definitions
-
To foreshadow a good or bad outcome

Aggressive patriotism
Measuring and adjusting the balance of
Tomihama 2

Pages read: 37
Sherry Turkle starts to talk about how we view our electronic robots and how it all started.
She shares the creation all different types of robotic companions and how they are viewed by
children and parents. Turkle explains how these robots affect us emotionally and in our daily
lives. She collects answers from people, mostly children, and asks them how they see a robot
as a companion.
-
Howard, a fifteen year

old boy, says, Each
human being is limited
by his or her own life
experience, but
computers and robots
can be programmed
with an infinite amount
of information (51).
- We learn that to
sustain a realistic
relationship. One must
accept others in their
complexity. When we
imagine a robot as a
true companion, there is
no need to do any of
this work (55).
- Robotic
companionship may
seem a sweet deal, but
it consigns us to a
closed world--the
loveable as safe and
made to measure (66).
Unfamiliar words
1. Turing Test
2. Harbinger

Question?
- When confiding in a robot/machine,
you are allowed to put whatever
information you want it to know. This lets
the robot give better advice because,
although it didnt experience your
particular problem, it was programmed to.
It has more knowledge with less
experience.
- Having a robot as a true companion, we
dont have to accept its complexity.
Having a robot makes it easier to sustain
a realistic relationship. It makes life
easier.
- Although having a robot as a companion
may seem as the easy way out, it makes
us Alone Together. It is signing us up
to a closed world where we dont relate
with others. It puts us in a world that we
can control and measure. Instead of have
experiences with others and getting to
know them, you can just program your
companion and have it give you as
much attention as you desire.
Definitions
1. A test for intelligence in a computer
2. A person/thing that signals the approach
of another
Tomihama 3

Pages read: 37
Turkle is basically stating the same ideas but with different examples and evidence. She
explains how robotic toys affect children and play with their feelings. Sherry also explains
how we prefer robots over humans and why we confide in them the way we do.

-
More than harmless

amusements, they are
powerful because they
invite our attachment. And
such attachments change
our way of being in the
world (79).
Many children in this
study seem to lack what
they need most: parents
who attend to them and a
sense of being important.
Children imagine sociable
machines as substitutes for
the people missing in their
lives (87).
When these children
interpret robotic technical
limitations as rejection, the
become withdrawn,
depressed, or angry. Some
take foolish chances (96).

Question?
- Technology is no longer just a means
of entertainment, it causes
attachment. With this attachment, it
changes our way of being in the
world. We dont socialize with each
other as much as we do on our
screens.
- Now with robots as companions, we
seek out what we are missing in
them. According to Turkles study,
she is finding that a lot of the
children in her study are missing
parents who give them attention. So,
they substitute the robots as people.
Once again, we are socializing with
each other less and with technology
more.
- These robots to arent necessarily the
perfect companions. When a robot
cant achieve certain things, kids
interpret as oh, it doesnt like me.
Which leads to them being sad and
upset.
Unfamiliar words
None
Definitions
None
Tomihama 4

Pages read: 37
She explains how different robot companions have been created to assist our needs such as the
elderly. Turkle shares her studies on others experiences with these robots. She stresses that
even though people know that the robot is a machine, they find themselves talking to t as if it
was alive or real. She talks with other roboticists about how they feel they can make robots
seem more real.
-
Twenty years ago,

most people assumed
that people were, and
would always be, each
others best
companions. Now,
robots have been added
to the mix (118).
As we learn to get the
most out of robots,
we may lower our
expectations of all
relationships, including
those with people. In
the process, we betray
ourselves (125).
As our relationships
with robots intensify,
we move from wonder
at what we have made
to the idea that we have
made something that
will care for us, beyond
that, be fond of us
(129).
Unfamiliar words

Question?
- This shows how before we would go to
each other for companionship, but now
that there are robots, we go to them. As
said from before, they require less work
to interact with. You can program them
and know what they are like, but with a
human companion, you have to spend the
time to get to know them.
- If you were to share your feelings and
thought with a robot, you experience less
emotional range because robots have a
limited sense of emotion.
- With more production and advancements
of robots, we will more often go to them
as companions. As this bond strengthens,
we no longer are amazed at what we have
made. Now that is common new
advancements in robots to make them
more real dont fill us with wonder.
Instead, our mindset shifts. We now will
see them something to care for us and like
us, not just some wonders that we can
play with.
Definitions
Tomihama 5
Solicitous
Inchoate
Showing interest/concern
undeveloped/rudimentary

Pages read: 37
Sherry Turkle now shifts from talking about robotic companions to teens and our apps. She
shares her interviews with numerous teenagers all across America. How our outside life
reflects in how we portray ourselves in online profiles and games. We are given the power to
construct ourselves the way we wish to be and how we have slowly been evolving over time.
-
In this regime, a train

station (like an airport, a
caf, or a park) is no
longer a communal
space but a place of
social collection: people
come together but do
not speak to each other.
Each is tethered to a
mobile device and to the
people and places to
which that device serves
as a portrayal (155).
These days, cultural
norms are rapidly
shifting. We used to
equate growing up with
the ability to function
independently. These
days always-on
connection leads us to
reconsider the virtues of
more collaborative self.
All questions about
autonomy look different
if, on a daily basis, we
are together even when
we are alone (169).

Question?
- This shows how we have changed in
interacting with each other. At airports or
cafes, you normally see people on their
electronics in their own digital world
instead of interacting and conversing
with each other. Now days, people come
together just to go on their devices.
Before, children would grow up playing

outside with their imagination and
learning from experiences. Now, they are
handed devices who teach them different
skills. They lose the experience of
learning to function independently. We
have changed from the past and will
continue to change if we constantly are
together, alone.
Tomihama 6
Unfamiliar words
-
Cacophony
Banal
Definitions
-
Harsh mixture of sound

Lacking originality

Pages read: 37
In this week's reading, Sherry Turkle interviews teens and adults on their take of technologies
influence. She retells their stories with some who love technology and some who feel that we
would be better without it. Some people feel that it is better that we have technology and it
gives you a chance to display only the good aspects and traits of yourselves. While other
believe it makes it hard to be in solitude without offending the person on the other end.
-
The telephone was once a

way to touch base or ask a
simple question. But once you
have access to e-mail, instant
messaging, and texting, things
change. Although we still use
the phone to keep up with
those closest to us, we use it
less outside this circle. Not
only do people say that a
phone call asks too much,
they worry it will be received
as demanding too much
(188).
Audrey is a 16 year old
highschool student and she
shares one instance she had
online: If it had happened at
a party, it would have ended
in five minutes. Sherry
Turkle then adds on, But she
had said it on the Internet, its
own peculiar echo chamber
(196).
Unfamiliar words

Question?
- This quote shows how we have
evolved from using the telephone to
using email, IMs, and text
messages more. People feel that
phone calls ask too much of people,
you have to have a conversation
and reply right away. Unlike text
messaging, you cant ignore and
reply later or edit your response.
- When Audrey tells her story about
entering into an internet fight with a
close friend Logan, it shows how
things on the internet last forever.
She explains that if this fight were
to happen in real life, than it
wouldve passed and they would be
friends today. But, since it was on
the internet, the issue is constantly
brought up and fought over which
has ruined their relationship. I like
how Sherry Turkle explains the
internet as an echo chamber. If
something happens on the internet,
everyone can get involved, nothing
is private
Definitions
Tomihama 7
Poignant
Faustian bargain
Evoking a keen sense of sadness

To sacrifice anything to satisfy a
limitless desire for knowledge or
power

Pages read: 37
In these chapters, Turkle explains how teens turn to the internet for support or a place to vent.
Some prefer to vent online because your computer wont talk back or judge you. But, some
dislike it because its like you're talking to someone who doesnt care. She shows how some
teens say or do things on the internet without thinking how it will affect them in the future.
Turkle shares some of their views and stories of their experiences and thoughts of online sites.

-
Technology makes it
easy to blur the line
between confession and
apology, easy to lose
sight of what an
apology is, not only
because online spaces
offer themselves a
cheap alternatives to
confronting other
people but because we
may come to the
challenge of an apology
already feeling
disconnected from
other people. In that
state, we forget that
what we do affects
others (234).
Unfamiliar words

Question?
- Before when there was no technology, it
was obvious when someone didnt mean
their apology. But now with technology,
people hide behind their screens and
apologize. This way, it is hard to see if
the person is being genuine or not. It
gives the person who did the wrongdoing
an easy way out by just simply typing the
words Im Sorry. Having technology, it
blocks your vision of seeing how your
actions affect others. With technology it
is easy to say mean things because you
cant see how the other person is taking it.
Definitions
Tomihama 8
Quips
Proliferate
Ephemeral
Panopticon
A witty remark
Increase rapidly in numbers
Lasting for a very short time
A circular prison

Pages read: 37
In these chapters, Turkle describes how young teens view texting and interacting online. It
shows why some of us are so tethered to our phones and prefer to text than to have a verbal
conversation. How the purpose of texting has evolved.
-
Children have always

competed for their parents
attention, but this generation
has experienced something
new. Previously, children
had to deal with parents
being off with work, friends,
or each other. Today,
children contend with
parents who are physically
close, tantalizingly so, but
mentally elsewhere (267).
When I first encountered
texting, I thought it too
telegraphic to be much more
than a way to check in. You
could use it to confirm an
appointment, settle on a
restaurant, or say you were
home safely. I was wrong.
Texting has evolved into a
space form confessions,
breakups, and declarations of
love (268).
Unfamiliar words

Question?
- This shows how before we just had
to compete for the attention of our
parents. But now, they could be
physically with us, but mentally
elsewhere. They could be on their
phone, but with us. With technology,
everything seems to be like that
now. It is hard to get someones full
attention without interruptions. With
this group of millennials, we have
shorter attention spans because we
all think that we can multitask, when
in reality, we cant.
- This quote gives the author's opinion
and experiences with texting. She
explains how before we used to use
the texting feature as a way to check
in or make an appointment. Now, it
is how we hide behind a screen to
tell out peers things that we are too
scared to say in person such as;
confessions or declarations of
love.
Definitions
Tomihama 9
Certitude
Absolute certainty

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Tomihama1

Weekly Reading Report #1

Together is about how we are

Embedded quotation (page #)

How does it answer/relate to the Guiding

To foreshadow a good or bad outcome

Weekly Reading Report #2

Howard, a fifteen year

How does it answer/relate to the Guiding

Weekly Reading Report #3

Author: Sherry Turkle

Embedded quotation (page #)

More than harmless

How does it answer/relate to the Guiding

Weekly Reading Report #4

Twenty years ago,

How does it answer/relate to the Guiding

Weekly Reading Report #5

In this regime, a train

How does it answer/relate to the Guiding

Before, children would grow up playing

Harsh mixture of sound

Weekly Reading Report #6

The telephone was once a

How does it answer/relate to the Guiding

Evoking a keen sense of sadness

Weekly Reading Report #7

Embedded quotation (page #)

How does it answer/relate to the Guiding

Weekly Reading Report #8

Children have always

How does it answer/relate to the Guiding

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