Growing up in the age of technology, I believe we really need to take a step back to take a look at how things are. Most people our age constantly forget that other generations simply did not have the resources that we have today. Technology defined many key events in the coming of age for our generation whether we acknowledged or participated in them or not. Although my mom was pretty adamant about not letting my brother and I play video games very often, and did not allow us to have Game Boys when we were young, so both of us never really developed a taste for it (yet I do speak only for myself), I still remember the nights where my friends would stay out all night waiting in line for the new Xbox, PlayStation, or Call of Duty game just so they could play it through the night and skip school the next day. Despite that I was never one for video game consoles, I spent my equal share of time on the Internet while growing up. I was a huge fan of Neopets and also created a MySpace when I was eleven (although you had to be thirteen–which resulted in the deletion of the page when my mom found out, and then later the creation of a new page on my thirteenth birthday). Although since I have gotten older, I definitely have lost that “passion” I had for the social media. I think I have kinda realized why I liked it exactly. The human connection through the websites is really what drew me in, and I guess I found that the human connection made IRL (in real life–Baym, chapter 2) is much more satisfying and real, at least in my opinion. Although this apparent distance that is apparent with human connection via the Internet is not necessarily a problem with it, but rather a problem with how people use it, like Baym mentions in book. The Internet doesn’t distance people from people, people distance people from people.
This reminded me of Richard Linklater’s film Boyhood which speaks of the advancement and prominence of technology, especially in my generation. The main character argues that Facebook, social media, and technology are turning humans into anti social robots, although I would place the blame on humans after reading Baym’s argument.
While reading your post I automatically connected with you in your stating that “the Internet doesn’t distance people from people, people distance people from people.” I wholeheartedly agree with you on this sentiment. At the same time however, I feel that there is this imbalance, irony even, that we use social media for “social” reasons yet spend less time together “IRL”. Your comment that the human connection through the websites is really what drew you in speaks true for so many of us. I too used websites like neopets and myspace when I was younger, in elementary school and middle school even as a form of finding new friends, making new connections. I felt that I didn’t have friends at school so these websites were my solace, my safety zone to find friends, even they weren’t necessarily friends “IRL”.
Lastly, I too would place the blame on humans after reading Baym’s argument in regards to the antisocial comment. We choose wether or not to interact with others. If anything, the internet had made connection easier and more convenient for us to continue and build on the relationships we already have. I believe it is a part of the human element, the human condition, the sentiment of loneliness in a world full of opportunities to interact.
Thanks for sharing!
– Felipe
I definitely agree that we have grown so accustomed to the technology we used – I often reflect on how much more time-intensive it would be to write a research paper 20 years ago. I feel guilty and almost embarrassed that I honestly would not know where to start…But I think what you’re getting at here has a lot to do with what Baym was defining as “domestication”. Though not all people today take the technologies we use for granted, this concept is certainly growing in the case of things like the Internet, etc. I too really connected with that part of Boyhood. I felt like there was a role for everyone to see themselves in in that movie but I always think how crazy it is that Linklater basically predicted how prevalent the inclusion of the evolution of technology would be in the film. Since we are the same age as Mason, the evolution of the iPod throughout the film is so close to us. I think this really speaks to how quickly technology developed throughout our childhood and adolescence.