All of these studies this week talks about how internet and technology has evolved in our life and become a major part of our communication in relationships. Lenhart studied teens have cell phone and use them a lot to communicate with family, friends and interact on email, blogs and social media and chats.
These studies pointed out that face-to-face communication is are depleting with the increase of technology use. Baym claims that people are not replacing face-to-face communication by using texting, email, social networking but are enhancing face-to-face relationships. I have yet to see how texting, email, social networking sites, etc. enhance face to face relationships because people rarely communicate face to face. Have you ever walked in a room that was full of people but everyone was typing and communicating on their phone as if they were in the room alone. Rainie and Wellman talks about how communication devices are used to communicate with each other. I loved the story they gave at the beginning of chapter 1 of Peter and Trudy. This was a very touching story and it shows a great example of their idea of “networked individualism.”
I was confused when seeing that so many teens have cell phones at such a young age. I always ask my niece and young children I see with a cell phone what the purpose is. I don’t see who they actually have to talk to at such a young age. Baym and the radio broadcast talked about the fear that CMC is ruining our abilities to communicate and that technology is going to destroy current way of life. I wouldn’t say that I believe it is going to talk over our life but I do believe that it does have an impact on our life. If you give a child in elementary a cell phone they attempt to do what they see or heard everyone else is doing rather it is bad or good and if there is not parental supervisor anything can happen. People will always fear new things and ways of communication just as they did TV and internet but with time we all find ways to balance out our usage and these things have become helpful in many ways.
I am not a networked individual I prefer face-to face interaction or talking over texting. I really do not use email or IM other than work and I do not use social network at all. I agree with the findings that girls are more active with texting and cell phone usage than boys. I was troubled that parents of girls are more likely to monitor behaviors because boys do just as much as girls and all children should be monitored. However, these findings go along with normal assumption that girls have to be watched more than boys.
I agree with this weeks readings that children spend most of the time they are not in school on some form of technology. My 15 year sister had a phone but my mother had to take it away last year because she kept getting into trouble. She would find ways to skip school, and of course she used her phone to communicate. She has gone without a phone, but she does have an ipod that is connected to her hand 24/7. Children will find the means to communicate with technology. I think, they worry about girls usage because it depends a lot on what girls and boys are getting online for. Maybe a boy might be online playing call of duty with his online buddies, while a girl might be chit chatting it away with a teenage hottie who in reality is a 40 something pedophile. I am not saying boys do not do the same, but girls and boys have different online interests sometimes.
I’ll disagree with you that CMC can’t enhance our face-to-face relationships. Since graduating from college, I’ve developed a few friendships that might not have developed into what they are today if not for CMC and mobile phones. It allowed us to communicate in between the times we saw each other face-to-face, which could be a week or more at a time. We quickly realized how much we had in common because we were able to text each other jokes, participate in fantasy football leagues, etc. If anything, we had more face-to-face contact because our interaction through texting and through the internet.
I didn’t say that CMC can’t enhance our face-to-face relationship I said I have yet to see it. Maybe because I do not develop relationships with CMC or interact with it But that may just be me. Other than playing video games and texting jokes to your friends what else do you do? When you need someone to talk to do you communicate with them. Also if you were in the same room with them would you have something to talk about or would you talk verbally instead of using technology? We have face-to-face contact with many people by actually seeing them but do we actually communicate verbally at that time?
I agree that friendships can be enhanced through CMC. It creates a buffer zone for us to express ourselves in a comfortable way. It gives us the ability to strengthen existing ties by creating another avenue to share. As you said in another post, being preoccupied with our phones and existing set of friends can also hinder new relationships from developing. When meeting in a real world space, you have to take a chance on engaging with a stranger. It seems a lot more difficult than the known and comfortable.
I must admit that your blog was truthful and I agree with it fully. I was also surprised with how many teens had cell phones, a lot of them while they were still technically pre-teens. Whether or not this could have consequences has been determined in several cases, but it could potentially have some good aspects to it. It could allow the owners to learn responsibility for their property. For instance, if they lose their phones, they’ll have to fess up and take full responsibility, possibly financially and otherwise.