One World, Many Culture

We lost the ability to be still, our capacity for idleness. They have lost the ability to be alone, their capacity for solitude. (The end of solitude, pg.4)

In “The Limits of Friendship” by Maria Konnikova, social media has significantly changed the way we interact with friends and family. Everybody thinks that using social media is the best way to talk to friends and family, however, in my opinion, they are wrong because it doesn’t give you the face-to-face connections we need as humans for social interaction. On the other hand, the great thing about using social media is you can connect with more people, but in a superficial kind of way. Therefore, we do not get the face-to-face interactions with our friends and family. We, the people that are addicted to social media, learn that without face-to-face conversations we wouldn’t have a normal “social” life outside of social media. The question

In “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.” by Sherry Turkle a Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been studying the psychology of online connectivity for more than 30 years. For the past five years, she has been focusing on topics: What has happened to face‐ to‐face conversation in a world where so many people say they would rather text than talk, families, friendships and romance. She has also studied schools, universities and workplaces. Among this topics she has talked and provided studies on how we have become distant from “who we are.” She reports that we as a society have lost a lot of virtues as a society such as a lack of empathy for one another, solitude, and communication with one another. As the “digital world” continues to grow we as a society continue to grow with it and apart from one another. Sherry also emphasizes that we

The relationship between people has been changed because of the widely using of new technology. People can easily communicate with other people by using different kinds of methods. Because of the use of those methods, people have more space with others and frequently hide part of themselves on the Internet in order to show the best of them. In the essay “Small Change: Why he Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, Malcolm Gladwell states that the relationship between people can be categorized by strong ties and weak ties. For example, in the past, people communicated by the method of interpersonal hierarchies, which are considered as strong ties. However, with the development of technology, social network, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Skype, which have become very popular in the world, are regarded as weak ties. Moreover, in the essay “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle claims that people are distant with others and get lost in the virtual world through the new technology. She points out that now people communicate with others through technology instead of directing talking to real people. Furthermore, some people suppose that sociable robots as substitutes for people. Both Gladwell and Turkle agree with the idea that technology plays an important role on people’s connection. Technology only creates inauthentic relationship because it hides identity of many disorganized people.

Today’s young adults have a lack of communication with friends and family because of technology such as social media, video games or television. In our society, parlor walls can be seen as those commodities. The large flat screen tv’s or IPads are today’s enthusiast. “Social media in our country and the globalizing world has become the voice, eye, ear, heart, and memory of the individuals. It has aspects which strengthen, weaken and include communication between the individuals and also it provides convenience for time and place.” This, according to TNS Digital Life Research that carried out a study in 2011 and held 1.938.059.098 people that were online. Researchers were able to test how many people prefer to communicate through social media or rather be involved in some sort of social media instead of actually going out and interacting. These studies show and give a glimpse of how many people are more interested to spend time on social media instead of building new relationships. Bradbury’s society and our society and similar because of the lack of communication we have because of some aspects of technology that are similar, which are the parlor walls and social media, television and video games.

Stanley Eitzen decries the increasing loneliness that has come with advancement in technology and modernity. For instance, the writer asserts that the present day generation is socially inactive as compared to the past generations. Generally, the apparent isolation that people have found themselves in can be largely attributed to technology. Often times, people find themselves using their mobile phones and computers as opposed to engaging in personal face-to-face communications. In effect, this increases communication between individuals but largely reduces intimacy. Other than technology, the types of modern lifestyles that people have embraced have led to isolation, as people tend to live in social and racial settlements. The state of isolation, the author argues, has many disadvantages as it leaves individuals susceptible to unlawful organizations, such as terrorist groups and evil cults. I wholly conquer with these sentiments.

In “Social Networks”, Neal Gabler explains how television shows and social network influence our daily interactions with friends and family in great details. The author shows that all TV show is just a fiction nowadays. Gabler said,

The ease with which people are able to share and communicate over the Internet has had the effect that people no longer feel the need to interact in with one another in person because they feel that everything they want to do can be done over the Internet. An example can be seen in “Connectivity and its Discontents”, where we are introduced to Randy (Turkle 621). Randy’s younger sister was recently engaged to be married, something that most people would consider a significant event. She and her fiance decided to make the announcement to their family and friends via e-mail, something that made Randy feel very far away from his sister emotionally. Social media can also have the effect that constantly updating our information and giving second by second updates on the ordinary events of our daily

As I grew it up, I trusted my parents to tell me what was right. I tried to live up to their expectations, so I can be the good daughter. I was raised playing soccer, a sport I did not even like; I followed through and tried to get better so I could earn the scholarship. Although culture does affect the way people view at the world, there’s a limit. At the end of the day, you just have yourself.

In this article Rosen uses a plethora of examples and sources to make her argument/ideas credible. Rosen used one of Stanley Milgram’s studies to show how there were “six degrees of separation,” but now with social media people are connected by closer to three degrees of separation, according to Duncan J. Watts. Rosen uses the essay “The Strength of Weak Ties” by sociologist Mark Granovetter to strengthen her argument on how social media is mostly weak ties and not true real friendships. Also she uses a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that states “ more than half of all Americans between the ages of twelve and seventeen use some online social media coverage of social networking site.” Then Rosen goes on to say how there is a “nearly unbridgeable generational divide, with tech-savvy youngsters redefining friendship while their doddering elders look on with bafflement and increasing anxiety.” This survey helps Rosen’s argument that states how friendship is not the same anymore.

Facebook, in particular, is the target of this article, with its enormous audience, Facebook is the go-to website to see the latest gossip, get in touch with everyone, and be in touch with everyone. So a lot of people give up face-to -face to talk with each other instead using the Facebook or any other technology. The research put into the lonely topic consists of psychologist’s opinions and real events. For example, the books Sherry Turkle wrote like “Life on the screen” and “Alone together” can see how serious the impact is.

The theme friendship and even family should be expressed more now than ever before in today’s society. With all of the technology around us, people are spending less time together and beginning to take family and friendships for granted. It is important for us to disconnect from our phones, laptops, games and the internet because we need to work with our friends and family at building a stronger and more loving relationship.

In Stephen Marche article “Is Facebook making us lonely?” the author explores the effect of technology and Facebook, specifically social media, on people’s lives. One of Marche’s main points is that the technology has become more advanced. In just one click of the button we can find out what is going on in our country as well as the outside world. We are isolated from the real world and one another since we do not have face-to-face interactions. Marche contributes his findings to the rise in social media which is Facebook. He believed that the more connected we are to social media, the lonelier we become. . Facebook has created a fear that is interfering with our real friendships, distancing us from one another and making us lonelier. Another

Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Instagram, and Flicker was invented to keep us in touch and keep us closer to our family and friends. But according to How Facebook ruins Friendships “we took our friendship online” (Bernstein). First we began communicating more by email than by phone and then switched to instant messaging or texting. By joining social Medias online

"No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive." This quote was stated by the preeminent leader, Mahatma Gandhi. Every culture that exists are unique and significant because of their vast traditions and beliefs. The extent of one's culture informs the way one views others and the world. Throughout the stories, "Where World's Collide", "An Indian Father's Plea", and the "Willie Lynch letter" each culture presented was controlled by another culture. Each character was expected to adapt themselves to a whole new culture, leaving their traditions hidden. It was portrayed in the story that the dominating culture wanted to remain dominant as they adapt others to their traditions and principles. The authors of these stories were able to express themselves through imagery as they painted a picture for the readers to relate to, appealling to their human senses.