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The Text-Generation
Pew Internet stated that the number of text messages sent monthly
in the U.S. exploded from
14 billion in 2000 to 188 billion in 2010.5
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Americans ages 18-29 send and receive an average of nearly
88 text messages per day5
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Texting_in_traffic.jpg
So many people are connected at all times to smartphones, society becomes a
“gadget haze”6.
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Each of us is in our
own bubble , furiously
connected to
keyboards and tiny touch
screens.2
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People no longer talk to each other,
even if they are in the same room.4 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blonde_girls_texting.jpg
Technology-enabled, we are able to be with one another, and also elsewhere:
alone together.2
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How well we negotiate electronic communication in our personal relationships can
make or break
them.2
~ Dr. Sherry Turkle
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Willing to dispense with people altogether.
"If they insist on only texting, they're not my kind of person
anyway.” 1
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To get these, we ask simpler questions; dumb down our communications,
even on the most important matters. 2
When we communicate on our digital devices, we expect fast responses.
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The fear is that more of us are
losing our ability to have, or are avoiding,
traditional face-to-face conversations that are vital in the
workplace and personal relationships.7
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As a society, we are
becoming
when it comes
to reading facial
expressions and body
language. 5
functional illiterates
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These are cues that you lose when you can't see or hear
someone, or when you're distracted, even in
person, by a gadget.7
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“I don’t call or stop by to talk, I don’t want to be interrupted.
I’d rather just do things on my BlackBerry”. 2 http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6148/6004509953_195cba754f_o.jpg
“Email and texting meant a conversation I could control…
I get to say exactly what I want,
exactly when I want to say it.” 5
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We use technology to keep one another at distances we can control:
not too close, not too far, just right. j
The Goldilocks effect. 2
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Today many people with cell phones prefer texting over a phone call.
From Pew Internet & American Life Project7
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"We loathe having crucial conversations. They make us
PARALYZED and we do what we can to avoid them.” 7
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Electronic communication will create
less face-to-face conversations.
Future generations will be more comfortable texting their friends than talking to them in person. 6
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We are tempted to think that our
little “sips”
big gulp
of real conversation. 2
of online connection add up to
a
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Some communication experts say
“the PROBLEM is that the virtual conversation
ISN'T PARTICULARLY DEEP” 7
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That’s a WARNING SIGN that we are giving in to our
techno-fetishes,and putting more faith in them than in our own real-world concerns.6
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our current situation, our current surroundings
and the people we spend time with? 6
What long-term effects will occur by devaluing
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children with cell phones often won’t make friends with
other children who don’t have cell phones. 6
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because of cell phone usage. 6
had lost a relationship or job
7% of students
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Works Cited1. He Texts, She Tweets—Are They E-Compatible? By Elizabeth Bernstein. The Wall Street Journal. July 2012.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304708604577502672286303452.html2. The Flight From Conversation. Sherry Turkle. The New York Times. April 2012.http
://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=03. New technological devices lead to decline in social skillshttp
://www.universitychronicle.net/index.php/2011/02/13/new-technological-devices-lead-to-decline-in-social-skills/
4. Texting affects communication skillshttp://www.kent.k12.md.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=555:texting-affects-communication-skills&catid=54:superintendent&Itemid=188
5. We never talk any more: The problem with text messaginghttp://www.cnn.com/2012/08/31/tech/mobile/problem-text-messaging-oms
6. How Cell Phones Are Killing Face-to-Face Interactions http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/10/how-cell-phones-are-killing-face-to-face-interactions295
7. Text Messaging: Is Texting Ruining The Art Of Conversation?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/03/text-messaging-texting-conversation_n_1566408.html
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Images
All images used are from Google using the Advanced Image Search, with usage rights set
to: Free to use, share or modify.
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