Isolation in theTechnological Age

Christina VilaUniversity of Florida

MMC2265Spring 2010

Purpose

Define isolationDifferent technologiesScholarly workExamples

Connectivity

Some may argue the oppositeSocial mediaChatting methodsInstant gratification

What is isolation?

DefinitionIn today’s worldHow scholars see itOrigins oftechnologicalisolation

Elizabeth Eisenstein

American historianPrintingPress displaced bythe pulpitPrivacy of reading athome

Eisenstein, Elizabeth. “The Rise of the Reading Public.” Communication in History:Technology, Culture, Society. Ed. Paul Heyer. Allyn & Bacon, Inc., 1997. 212. Print.

Marshall McLuhan

Media theoristTechnologies are an extension of usExtensions of our sensesAllow us to see, hear, feel, but at a price

McLuhan, Eric. “FAQs - Marshall McLuhan.” The Official Site of Marshall McLuhan.Web. 10 April 2010.

Clifford Stoll

“What’s missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact.Discount the fawning techno-burble about virtual communities.Computers and networks isolate us from one another.”

-Clifford Stoll, in “Why Web Won’t Be Nirvana”

Stoll, Clifford. “Why Web Won’t Be Nirvana.” Newsweek. 27 Feb. 1995. http://www.newsweek.com/id/106554/. 10 April 2010.

Clifford Stoll

Distrust of the Internet“Isolated by the Internet”Social outcastsAcceptance

Stoll, Clifford. “Why Web Won’t Be Nirvana.” Newsweek. 27 Feb. 1995. http://www.newsweek.com/id/106554/. 10 April 2010.

Michael Wesch

Social media“Networked indivisualism”“Context collapse”“Connection without constraint”

Mwesch. “An anthropological introduction to YouTube.”Digital Ethnography: mwesch’s Channel. YouTube,26 July 2008. http://www.youtube.com/user/mwesch. 20 April 2010.

Technological IsolationSyndrome

Professor Tony McEnery– Lancaster University

Harmful to today’s youthLoss of verbal skillsDecrease in vocabulary

Stuart, Keith. “Modern teenagers are practically mute. Videogames to blame.”Games Blog. Guardian.co.uk.13 Dec. 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2006/dec/13/modernteenager. 19 March 2010.

Technologies that Isolate

Video gamesCell phonesThe Internet– Virtual reality– Joseph Tecce– Avatars

Hudson, Joanne. “Virtual reality's lonely lifestyle; in a society where so much emphasis is placed on mass communication, it seems surprising that loneliness has become a major ailment afflicting many Americans.” BNET (2002). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_19_18/ai_87024945/. 17 April 2010.

Examples in Real Life

Avoidance usesSelf-checkout lanesVideo GamesFood Court

Examples in the Media

Found in Movies– Up in the Air– Avatar

The Future of TechnologicalIsolation

Professor David Carlson, UFEverything will be digitalDigitized refrigerators, keys, etc.

Conclusion

“Technology is a knack of so arranging the world so that we don’t have to experience it.”

-Max Frisch

Isolation in theTechnological Age

Christina VilaUniversity of Florida

MMC2265Spring 2010