“Socially stunted” is just an excuse
Like Schuyler, I enjoyed this chapter, especially since it seemed to address the technological environment that we inhabit much more realistically than Tapscott.
What I found most compelling was Baym’s discussion of the implications that the internet and mobile phones have on social interactions and relationships. I am wishy-washy in that I waver back and forth between believing that online interactivity and our dependance on it completely destroys our ability to function with people in face-to-face scenarios. Following Rob’s lead, I’m also going to take an example from YA literature: M.T. Anderson’s book Feed is about a dystopian society that has advanced so far technologically that a computer chip is installed in everyone’s head and even when hanging out with friends, characters can “chat” each other from across the room in their own minds. The need for speech is essentially eradicated.
So while this is a legitimate fear, I also think it’ll never happen. At one point in Feed the characters lose their connection to the information feed. At first they’re completely lost, but then they easily resort back to life without constant connectivity and communicate without any problems. I also think people can easily resort to saying that someone is “socially inept” because of the internet, but the truth is there were socially awkward people before the internet, and their ineptitude was blamed on other things. Like Baym says, the internet quickly becomes a catch-all for all our problems.
I would be remiss not to point out the obvious point, however, that the internet, texting, and instant messaging is definitely changing the way we communicate in terms of language. Nouns are made verbs and vice versa, words are shortened to a grotesquely small syllable, and initialisms are everywhere. However, just as Aristotle’s prediction that the alphabet would ruin communication was laughably incorrect, it would be wrong of me to suggest that these technological changes to language are destroying English as we know it. Language is constantly evolving and developing, and although it pains me to see someone use “lol” unironically, I shouldn’t be so quick to devalue the way that technology has changed language.