Connectivity And Its Discontent Analysis

Sherry Turkle's essay, "Connectivity and its Discontents", evaluates how the common use of technology has affected personal interactions. She begins by stating that the primary use of technology was to have an efficient and effective way of communicating without disrupting the flow of our occupied lives. She presents certain situations which betray the primary use of technology. One situation harms a personal relationship such as a relationship between a grandmother and a woman. Another situation harms the way we communicate in a group such as a large group attending a conference, sealing their attention to their laptops. She concludes her essay by describing the rapidly changing association between the youth and technology noting that the …show more content…
This is portrayed in an episode of Black Mirror. In this episode, Lacie is aiming to purchase a luxury apartment so she can move out of her brother's home. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the sufficient ranking which qualifies her for a discount and in order to be eligible, she must earn a specific ranking by receiving high ratings from highly rated individuals. One night, Lacie's childhood friend, Naomi, chooses her to be the Maid of Honor at Naomi's wedding. Naomi is a highly rated person and so are her friends. Despite the repugnant past the two had long ago, she accepts to benefit herself. She knows that by writing a good speech, she can be liked by Naomi's friends which could help her obtain a high rating. She recites her speech with a disingenuous voice and artificial tears. Her brother calls out her phoniness and confronts her of her obsession with ratings which leads to a heated argument. At the airport, she finds out her flight is canceled. After unsuccessful attempts of persuading the employee to board the flight, she bursts out in anger which lowers her rating significantly. Her characteristics changes because she focuses more on her ratings. She presents a false identity just for her satisfaction of being a highly rated person. The consequence of being an impostor has made her rating fall at a sharp decline, unleashed her anger at someone, but most importantly, …show more content…
This causes us to be alone as Turkle explicitly states in her essay. Our reliance on technology has shifted us away from personal interactions with others. The absence of human nature greatly affects us; interacting with others behind a screen isn't the same personally. I've learned the harsh reality of the impact of technology on personal interaction and it isolated me from other humans. With the rapid improvement of technology flooding every year and new discoveries awaiting us, who knows how our form of communication will be in the