Flight From Conversation

In Sherry Turkle's "The Flight From Conversation" article, she touches on a few problems that society has been having with technology.  Turkle talks about how technology has declined the amount of communication between one another and mentions how accustomed we are to the new way of being "alone together," meaning technology has made it possible for someone to be alone in a room full of people but still able to connect and be wherever they want to be.  Her study shows that our drive for constant connection isn't just occurring at home or school, it is also happening in the work place, stores, restaurants and many other places.
 Somewhere along the line of the development of technology, people grew fond of the feeling of being comforted by silent connection and the capability of being in touch with so many people at once.  There is something about the distance between one another and the ability to control it that people enjoy.  We also have the ability to edit, delete, and rewrite anything we choose.  There are people who think the little pieces of online connection, like a tweet or Facebook post, are enough for a real conversation, but Sherry Turkle disagrees.  She thinks that we need to be having real face to face, meaningful conversations to not only improve our communication skills but our intelligence.
The more we use technology, the more we are drawn to it.  It is causing a growing expectation of receiving more from technology and causing us to expect less from each other.  With technology is company and it is "an illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship," Sherry stated.
I found the part where she mentioned the constant connection making us feel less lonely most thought provoking and I like when she says "if we are unable to be alone, we are far more likely to be lonely."  I agree with her point that our constant drive to "connect" stems from a fear of being alone and if we are unable to accept loneliness, we are bound to be lonely.  This article really inspired me to try to get my friends and family off of their laptops, cell phones, and tablets to have converse and communicate like we should be doing as people.