In Technology & Identity : Is rapidly accelerating technology eroding our sense of who we are?, Barbara Molony of Santa Clara University reports on a disucssion by three panelists about our identity and culture in relation to our use and dependence on technology. Questions such as,, “Is our identity as a society eroding because we are unclear about the survival of our cultural legacy?,” help clarify the impact of technology on our individual identity and community identity. The potential of the Internet’s influence on our identities can have both a positive and negative impact.
The globalization of information allows for an openness of ideas, and a feeling of being connected. Yet, the internet can also lead “American ethnic communities to vanish and that online communities often result in a narrowing of focus,” as people are less connected emotionally. Although the internet can “help us forge old-fashioned connectedness in a seemingly disconnected, modernizing world,”
One panelist, John Staudenmaier (Professor of History, University of Detroit, Mercy), “felt that we all need “offline time” to find our identity, and suggested we consider fasting from the Internet one night per week.”