jonathan safren foer on technology, “saving” time and being alone in the nyt
"Let’s assume, though, that we all have a set number of days to indent the world with our beliefs, to find and create the beauty that only a finite existence allows for, to wrestle with the question of purpose and wrestle with our answers.
We often use technology to save time, but increasingly, it either takes the saved time along with it, or makes the saved time less present, intimate and rich. I worry that the closer the world gets to our fingertips, the further it gets from our hearts. It’s not an either/or — being “anti-technology” is perhaps the only thing more foolish than being unquestioningly “pro-technology” — but a question of balance that our lives hang upon.“
the atlantic on facebook and loneliness:
1) don’t compare your inside to other people’s outsides
“But the price of this smooth sociability is a constant compulsion to assert one’s own happiness, one’s own fulfillment. Not only must we contend with the social bounty of others; we must foster the appearance of our own social bounty. Being happy all the time, pretending to be happy, actually attempting to be happy—it’s exhausting. ”
2) it’s not the tool, it’s the carpenter
“Facebook is merely a tool, he says, and like any tool, its effectiveness will depend on its user. “If you use Facebook to increase face-to-face contact,” he says, “it increases social capital.” So if social media let you organize a game of football among your friends, that’s healthy. If you turn to social media instead of playing football, however, that’s unhealthy…“Facebook can be terrific, if we use it properly,” Cacioppo continues. “It’s like a car. You can drive it to pick up your friends. Or you can drive alone.” But hasn’t the car increased loneliness? If cars created the suburbs, surely they also created isolation. “That’s because of how we use cars,” Cacioppo replies. “How we use these technologies can lead to more integration, rather than more isolation.””
photo:helmut newton
facebook vs. emotional closure in the NYT
“There’s one person who keeps coming around in the People You May Know box on Facebook where just the suggestion of this person changes my whole day,” said Pam Houston, a novelist. “It’s essential to my well-being to create the illusion that this person doesn’t exist.”
your mothers soothing voice doesn’t translate on instant message reports wired
“it doesn’t matter how many smiley faces you put in your IM. It’s not going to have the same effect as talking in person.”
