TED Talks: Impact of Technology on Relationship

A TED talk way back 2012, was entitled "Connected, but alone?" which is about the impact of technology with our relationship with one another. It was one of the talks of Sherry Turkle, a professor and a founding director at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. With her credentials, it is not surprising that she was chosen to be the TED talk speaker. She was an interesting speaker who was clear with her points and even gave examples. Her discussion was not only informative for me, but also entertaining.

Professor Turkle talked about how associated we are with our world online, but at the same time alone in real life. According to Gingerich (2014), Professor Turkle discussed many key points that are very important. However, the few that struck some eye opening thoughts to me were how all of us are together while not recognizing one another's presence. Also, that people only want what they can customized and change which can only be done through our gadgets.

Get quality help now

writer-marian

Verified writer

Proficient in: Relationship

4.8 (309)

“ Writer-marian did a very good job with my paper, she got straight to the point, she made it clear and organized ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

All throughout her talk, I was made aware of certain things that I did not really noticed before. I actually agree with the whole discussion. Almost all of us are so into the world online that we do not interact with the people we are with in real life.

According to Turkle (2012), the use of technology can be problematic for others, because of how powerful it can be. I agree because I do not really notice it at first, but somehow it slowly changed me. We always turn to our cellphones and all of our gadgets, because we want our thoughts to be heard.

When we post our lives online, it feels like all of your friends are listening to you. I agree because I think it makes us feel better for ourselves at some way. We do not feel lonely even if we really are alone. We also seek our mobile devices, because we can always make sure what we post is just right for us. Turkle (2012) mentioned the Goldilocks Effect in her discussion which means just the right amount. I think that it is what all of hunger for. And because our needs can be met online, we abandon what we have in real life. It is getting worse and worse as technology also progress. I see that we are indeed denying one another's attention. It is funny how accurate all her statements are. At the same time, it is saddening how most of us can relate with what she discussed.

In my opinion, using what can be beneficial in technology is not a bad thing. If you do not let it affect you negatively, there is no problem with it. I think that technology is becoming our way for people to be with one another easily. However, it seems that it is the other way around for some people. We may be physically there, but it does not mean that we are interacting with one another. I experience it myself with almost every person that I know. Some of my family members did not have a clue how gadgets worked at first. However, as they learn they seem to be so drawn to it that they do not interact as much with us anymore. It is like we are using our mobile devices to escape each other's presence and just be with ourselves. We use our mobile devices as a distraction or as an excuse from reality. I feel that we are escaping reality in general. It is a rare occurrence to me when the people that I am with choose to not use their gadgets. I see how we are so attached to technology that we fail to attach with people. It seems that human connection is slowly becoming non-existent.

In conclusion, we should know how important human connection is. It does not mean that we must disconnect with our world online. There is no denying that our lives online seem so perfect, because of how controlled it is. I think it is safe to say that we could also use what we learned online to become better people. However, we should reconnect with reality and be true to ourselves. We should reconnect with people who really matter. At the end of the day, we are at our best when we are real. In order to truly understand one another, we should make sure to have an actual conversation. Technology is progressing as the day goes by and I think that our relationship with one another should too.