Along Together By Sherry Turrkle Analysis

I found Sherry Turkles “Along Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other” very intriguing. Her book really makes you question the lifestyle we live and opens your eyes to the direction we are headed in today. In her book, Turkle explains how we chose to be alone now that technology has been integrated into our daily routine taken over all aspects of our life. She suggests with all the modern technology around us we have had less time to face the real world. We use this technology to stay connected 24/7 and we love it, but is it really such a good thing that were so connected to these inanimate objects? Many of us can barley go through an entire lecture, let alone an entire day, without at least checking our phones once. Turkle suggests those of us who are constantly connected but stopping short of having a conversation in person are not making the emotional connections we would rather be making. This leads to her theory that we can be in constant communication yet still be left feeling entirely alone.

Although at first I didn’t think much of her points applied to me, as I read on I began to realize more and more how technology has taken over my life. Being a student whose family resides on the other side of the planet, I know first hand what it’s like to constantly be using technology to stay in touch with my family and friends overseas. My phone is never more than an arms length away from me. I’m constantly connected to the outside the world in one-way or another. Even when I am in bed at night and alone, my phone lays right next to me charging connected to a 2-meter wire, because the regular wire wont reach my bed. I’m never really alone, never fully isolated. However by doing this we are constantl...

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...comes new anxieties of disconnection.”

We cannot resist the impact of technology. It completely encompasses our lives. We can however limit the extent to which technology affects our daily routine. By designating time to ourselves, I mean completely to ourselves and not our smartphones, we give our selves some time with our minds. You don’t need to know what’s going on around the world all the time. “We make our technologies, and they, in turn, shape us.” Too much of anything is never good a good thing regardless of what it may be. In todays society we rely too much on technology to the point our social norms and principles have begun to change. This does not have to necessarily be a bad thing, but when every aspect of our life depends on technology an issue begins to arise. We no longer have any privacy when we are alone together, blurring the lines of intimacy.