Monday, March 14, 2016

We Need Real Human Connections to Develop



My name is Tailor Walmer and I have focused my research and ideas around the concept that people are losing their sense of individuality due to technology and the online modern culture.


This week I really focused on the TED talk that has influenced my project. The talk given by Paru Bensal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxukMpZXsZ0

Her claims really made me think deeper on the idea of what makes a person an individual. She said that everyone has somebody in their life that has helped shape them to be who they are: whether it be a mentor, teacher, enemy, or a friend. She says that we need the interactions with these other people in order for us to figure out who we are as humans and what our place is in life.

People like to be connected and feel like they belong or are part of a group. We join facebook pages or follow certain trends because we like the things presented and we can easily find people to share in our likes and interests. We want people to relate to us but we lose the conversation. In a normal person relationship, we talk about more things than just the type of band we both like. In these online fan clubs however, there is only one topic discussed. One thing that people can relate to, so we are not developing our character and out personal interests. We are stagnant.

When we indulge too much in online culture, we lose person-to-person skills and skills in communication and understanding. It is easy to be fake on a screen but harder in real life. Online makes it easier to lie or hide your true self while in person, we are exposed and more likely to relate to others.

My sister and I once set up a fake profile on an online site just for fun. We immediately had hundreds of followers and people "liking" our information even though none of the pictures or information was real. How can we be individuals and understand who our true selves really are if we have the ability to hide things when we create online profiles. It is easy to be fake or lie when the other person cannot see your eyes.

2 comments:

  1. I think your story about you and your sister could be really effective to get your message across if you dress it up with a nice image and some more descriptive language. The idea you have is good, and with some more grooming (images, subheadings, links, videos) it can be EXCELLENT.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think your story about you and your sister could be really effective to get your message across if you dress it up with a nice image and some more descriptive language. The idea you have is good, and with some more grooming (images, subheadings, links, videos) it can be EXCELLENT.

    ReplyDelete