The People Have the Power

I was looking through my interview clips the other night, because I am starting the editing stage of my project, when I came across a great interview clip of my friend Skylar. What makes what she said so great is that she mentions how we need to learn how to take control of technology and use it in moderation, which is very similar to what Sherry Turkle says in her interview with Stephen Colbert.

Below you can find clips to both Skylar's interview as well as Sherry Turkle's interview as well.

Although neither Sherry Turkle or my friend Skylar actually name technological determinism they both make reference to this idea that people have the power to step away from technology. Skylar actually talks about how after being abroad she finds it easier now to not use different social mediums and is actually able to turn her phone off, which is something that most students struggle with. In Turkle's book, Alone Together, she talks to this one girl who says that, "knowing she has a message makes her 'antsy'. She starts to worry. She needs to read the message" (245). Our generation has become dependent on technology and have actually started to develop anxiety from it because we are afraid we will "'miss something' and cannot put down [our] phone[s]" (242). However, Skylar has personally been able to overcome this struggle and realizes that this need to be connected and have the ability to find information at the touch of your fingertips can be more trouble then it's worth.

The general consensus of both Skylar and Sherry Turkle's interviews is that we need to learn how to use technology properly and not let it control our lives.

Works Cited:

Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together. New York: Basic Books, 2011.