Example 1: Facebook: Like Myspace before it, and Aim before that, Facebook is the top tool to connect the people of the world. If you took a survey of our entire class asking who has a facebook account, you would find that at least 95% of us do. From that, a good 80% of us are on it regularly. This is a common finding for American high school in New York City, and if you expand this to the entire country you will find similar results. So why do people go on it non-stop? Well I can't answer for everybody, but I go on it to connect with everybody I know online. I can talk through normal messaging, quizzes, notes (which reach a group of people), groups centered on a common thread, applications, pictures, and so much more. Facebook has changed the way people talk because you can talk in so many different ways. This is particularly attractive because it gives people the illusion of freedom, the choice to talk to their friends however they like and whenever they can. Facebook doesn't make you respond right away. Conversations that would take minutes in spoken word can take days or weeks on Facebook, making you feel like you are really connecting with somebody even if you aren't. You feel popular when you see how many people talk to you, you feel important in a way that you can look back on so you don't have to rely on memory. People can talk in such an easier fashion, it's no wonder that it's one of the top sites in the world.
Example 2: Texting: The curse of the cellular telephone encompasses almost every American. With a phone on you, which many have or give their children so that they can be safe, you are never truly alone. You are connected to every single person in the world through a simple phone and thanks to this people can connect even more. Take a schoolroom environment for example, under the tables, in their bags, off to the side of the counter, cell-phones are used for texting, talking to people across the room, in the classroom next door, wherever. God-forbid anybody wait to talk to their friends or pay attention, everybody feels the need to be constantly connected to friends they want to be with now. Here's the kicker though, texting doesn't disappear once they go hang out with their friends. And that leads to the next example, a park. Imagine you are surrounded by 10 of your closest friends having a good time hanging out. You feel a vibrate coming from your pocket and you just got a text from somebody who couldn't make it, somebody who maybe doesn't fit into that particular group. So you text, and text and even with everything you need for social interaction available, you choose your phone over your friends to talk to even more. People are rarely satisfied by what they have ready for them at the moment and are constantly searching for more ways to talk to people and as a result more time face down at a screen.
Example 3: Video games: I love my XBox 360, I'm not going to lie about it or try and hide it. Having the range of games the system provides and the chance to play video games with people all around the world whenever I want to is a very special vice for me. Back in the 90's and early 2000's, video games were a staple of my childhood. When I wasn't out with my friends playing a sport or inside playing with toys, video games were king. I would invite my best friends over and we would play and yell and scream and have a good time. Now though, video games don't need a friend right next to you thanks to the internet. People can play from the safety of their own couch with their friend who is playing on their own couch. As a result, playing video games is a lot easier, but a side effect comes out of the situation. An online persona is created, reflecting your video game mentality. Like for me, I go from normality to a sarcastic shoot-you-in-the-back kind of guy, no respect unless you respect me. My friend who has the most insane temper in the world becomes a mellow, stay-in-the-back kind of guy. Everybody becomes a completely different person and this affects the way that certain people you interact with will see you, which is both good and bad but is not real in the end.
Conclusion: The multiple forms of digital-representational-devices are used to interact with people as often as possible but they do not present others with the truth and they separate you from reality.
Do you have a source for the numbers in your first paragraph? I think that it is a good evidence to have for your paper.
ReplyDeleteWhat I got from the first paragraph is that most American teenagers have a facebook and most of them use it on a daily basis. Facebook allows people to communicate through instant messaging, quizzes, and notes. Conversations on facebook take longer than direct conversations so people feel as if they are still connecting even when they are not talking.
You say that people have cellphones so they can connect and find people. Then you go into texts and how people do it in school, from one classroom to another. Even outside of school, people use texts instead of calls. I would suggest you broaden your paragraph and talk about cellphones and you can also talk about texting in your paragraph. Otherwise, I would find another example that shows addiction to texting, like the lecture on 9/9 I think, when Lauren was texting and it was only a casual conversation.
You did a nice job explaining your evidence but it was only one evidence. You need more evidence showing the addictiveness of video games. Maybe bring Johnson into your paper.
Maggie
Great thesis.
ReplyDelete