Question: Technology and Loneliness
Since publishing Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam has said we need to develop new kinds of connections when old ones die. Electronic links often are considered part of the problem, but he believes they could also be part of the solution. Indeed, a 2008 survey of American adults found 60 percent saying that new technologies had not affected the closeness of their families and a 2011 study found that self-reported feelings of empathy were higher among college students the more time they spent on Facebook. On the other hand, a 2009 Pew report found that social networking users are 26 percent less likely than others to turn to their neighbors for companionship. MIT professor Sherry Turkle says we have sacrificed conversation for "mere connection":
We've become accustomed to a new way of being "along together." Technology-enabled, we are able to be with one another, and also elsewhere, connected to wherever we want to be. We want to cust omize our lives. We want to move in and out of where we are because the thing we value most is control over where we focus our attention."143
Questions
1. In your view, is Turkle correct? Explain.
2. How might our ethical standards and performances be affected by excessive reliance on social technology?