Digital Networks & Place: Reading Response (1/4)
In Rushkoff's second chapter, "Place," he talks about the idea of digital networks being decentralized technologies. One thing I took away from this reading was the opening story of someone being everywhere at once but nowhere in reality. We're living in a world where we use multiple social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter to communicate with and keep tabs on people we know. When we scroll through these platforms on our phone, we're existing publicly for people across the world to see: we're everywhere. But when we're so tied to our phones that we get caught up in this decentralized, distant world, we are barely existing in the real world. Furthermore, our social media platforms have location sharing or tagging options. Everyone can see where we are in our photos and posts, but when we spend the whole time uploading our photos and checking how many likes we get, are we really even present at that place?
One of the other points from this chapter was that our media supports distant interactions because it makes it easy for us to connect to someone on the other side of the world. Oftentimes social media can also connect us to strangers who we have something in common with; Rushkoff gave the example of people with rare cancers finding support groups online. However, he also made the point that digital connections cannot be replacements for real interactions. I think this is important to remember especially because people often publicly post only the things they want to show in their life. People post photos of themselves laughing to make it seem like they're always having fun or share their accomplishments in a post on facebook. It's easy to get caught up in this digital world but not make any real connections. You never know what's going on in someone's life behind the smiling photos, but digital connections oftentimes only give us that superficial layer instead of encouraging the deeper connections we need. I think real interactions, especially with people you don't talk to often, are the only way to really deepen and strengthen relationships.
One of the other points from this chapter was that our media supports distant interactions because it makes it easy for us to connect to someone on the other side of the world. Oftentimes social media can also connect us to strangers who we have something in common with; Rushkoff gave the example of people with rare cancers finding support groups online. However, he also made the point that digital connections cannot be replacements for real interactions. I think this is important to remember especially because people often publicly post only the things they want to show in their life. People post photos of themselves laughing to make it seem like they're always having fun or share their accomplishments in a post on facebook. It's easy to get caught up in this digital world but not make any real connections. You never know what's going on in someone's life behind the smiling photos, but digital connections oftentimes only give us that superficial layer instead of encouraging the deeper connections we need. I think real interactions, especially with people you don't talk to often, are the only way to really deepen and strengthen relationships.
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