The 21st
century had brought along new changes to the way we live today. Technology has
evolved in a big way in these upcoming years, it has made our life easier and
more efficient, but it does have a few drawbacks. I will be discussing the
effects of technology on three different people, Julia, Ricki and Leo. Turkle the author of the story focuses on how technology affects their lives,
especially on the focus of cellphones.
Julia, a
sixteen-year-old girl, is addicted to her cellphone. Julia needs her phone constantly everywhere
she goes; she needs her phone to deal with her loss and separation anxiety.
Julia always needs to feel a sense of purpose; she needs to have constant
validation from her peers; according to David Riesman. Her phone is always on
her so that she can interact with her friends about the way she is feeling and
or when she needs to talk. As someone from the 21st century, I can
understand our world is full new communication strategies, but it isn’t
supposed to be helpful when someone is looking for attention. I can see that
Julia has very low self-esteem because she always needs constant support from
her friends; this shows that she maybe have been neglected in the past. I
really feel bad for Julia. Because she has no independence within herself and
this is to show how technology can affect people in accordance to someone who
has dependent issues.
Ricki,
fifteen-year-old girl, also is addicted to her phone. Her phone is useful to
her when she needs to finish her thoughts and when she is searching for constant
validation from her friends. This demonstrates how teenagers are having problems
with gratification; they do not have confidence within themselves nor self-esteem.
Ricki shows signs of having a fragile personality. This generation does have
some difficulties because of bullying and trying to fit in. Teens do not want
to feel like an outcast, they want to feel wanted. They search for
gratification from others. Ricki uses her phone to fill this void. Specifically,
psychoanalytic traditions are having problems with the concept of narcissism;
not because teens love themselves too much but because teenagers are not
feeling confident and are not feeling good about whom they are. Psychopathology
declares that too many teens are in a state where they don’t feel content with
themselves. Teens are not happy with themselves that leads to problems of
self-esteem and self worth. I feel like this will be a huge problem for teens
in the upcoming generations.
Leo, a
sophomore, has problems with isolation. He uses his cellular device to contact
his mother at all times. He doesn’t bother to interact with others because he
is always on his phone or talking to his mom. This causes problems for him to
meet friends. This demonstrates that teenagers are very obsessive over having
their phones constantly with them. Teens don’t have one to one conversation
because like Leo, some teens exclude everyone around them; that may be one of
our problems with our new generation. Leo shows signs of abandonment because he
always needs his mom’s support and his phone helps him deal with his
dependency. According to Erikson, at Leo’s stage of development there is a
distinction of Shame Vs Autonomy; Leo demonstrates that he is more in line of
being shameful because he always needs his mom’s advice, comment or may need to
talk to her all the time. He is not able to do things on his own it may seem.
Leo does fill this void by using his cellphone because it copes with his
dependency.
All these teenagers
have problems psychologically because they use their phones to manifest the way
they feel and or fill the void of discomfort instead of focusing on them. Our society is becoming too dependent on cellphones
and what it can do for us, but we can’t lose side of our selves in the world of
cellphones. Meeting new people is part of the way we live and if we exclude
that, we will have a life of regret and loneliness. Technology is very good tool
but how you use is what matters the most.
Image Ressource: http://inthebestofhealth.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/cell-phone-dependence-a-new-phenomenon/
Works Cited: "Alone Together" By Sherry Turkle
Erikson: Chart of development, stages
David Riesman (sociologist)
Image Ressource: http://inthebestofhealth.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/cell-phone-dependence-a-new-phenomenon/
Works Cited: "Alone Together" By Sherry Turkle
Erikson: Chart of development, stages
David Riesman (sociologist)
