Northern Virginia Community Impact of Technology on Communication Discussion

Part 1: Initial Post

1. Please view this video lecture, Connected, Yet Alone? [Length 19:42] (Links to an external site.) This video is about media, technology, and the social change that is occurring with communication. The lecturer, Sherry Turkle is a cultural analyst that teaches at MIT. The lecture runs 19 minutes and 45 seconds. Make some notes of important points as you will be using them to create your discussion post.
2. Read the first three sections of the article “Coronavirus: How COVID-19 is changing the world” (Links to an external site.)from Lens April 2020
   1. A new appreciation for social connection
      Dr Barbara Barbosa Neves, SociologyNew modes of civic life have emerged
      Professor Scott Wright, JournalismWe’ll be increasingly monitored through our devices
      Professor Mark Andrejevic, Media Studies
3. Now that you have viewed the lecture, Connected, Yet Alone? and read the article “Coronavirus: How Covid-19 is changing the world,” you are ready to create a discussion post. Consider the main points that were made in the lecture including, “we are lonely, yet afraid of intimacy.” Consider also how effective technology might be at keeping us connected during calls for social distancing amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

• • How has technology affected your own life and ability to communicate with others?
  • What indications do you have that people are more comfortable behind a screen in certain situations than they are in person?
  • Add to your discussion by including quotes from the lecture or reading that you either agree or disagree with.
  • Include some of the tools you may have been using to stay connected like social network sites (Facebook, Twitter and Tik Toc), multiplayer video games that create social spaces (Minecraft, etc.), or educational platforms (for you or your children) in your discussion and its relevance in your own life or society in general.