“I have to ask my friends first”
Are cell phones and the internet preventing cord-cutting??
Social networks make people more independent, but also more dependent. The sociologist sherry turkle advocates the latter theory: if you can always ask your friends for advice in a few seconds by phone or internet, you will not become self-reliant, especially in the critical phase of the transition from childhood to adolescence.
Sociologist sherry turkle, who once saw very rough opportunities for self-development on the internet, was interviewed in the current new scientist, which has social networking – whether via cell phone or the internet – as its leading theme. Turkle is obviously very critical of the development of social telecommunications in the last 10 years; in 1996 she was far more optimistic (is the internet male, female or both?)?), in her book "life on the net" (original title "life on the screen"), for example, she classified muds as therapeutically useful. Today, on the other hand, they consider too rough networking to be harmful.
While for most who understand the function of the off switch on the phone and know how to use it, a cell phone can bring more independence, especially in countries that are poorly served in terms of communication (cell phones are taking over developing countries), at a certain age the device can also have the exact opposite effect, turkle said: children who reach puberty cannot break away from their parents if they want to stay in constant contact with them by cell phone, and they also do not learn to make independent decisions, because they either do not dare or even feel obliged to first ask their clique whether they can accept this or that suggestion – the circle of friends thus seamlessly replaces parental supervision.
Sherry turkle
At a certain age, adolescents have the desire to break away from the parental home and become independent, preferably by having their own apartment, but in any case at least for hours at a time, going for a walk on their own, riding a bike or later even driving a car "curses". Also the friends often don’t know where he or she is, the parents get nervous, it could be that the wrong friends have come along. But this developmental phase is necessary – if it is suppressed, puberty will take place a few years later, and usually with more severe consequences.
Electronic umbilical cord
The use of "always on"-turkle now sees communication at this age as an electronic umbilical cord – even if it is a cordless device – as a duct tape, although the young people do not feel this way – otherwise they would simply switch off their cell phones and tell their parents later that the battery was empty – but simply do not learn to be independent. Instead of relying on their own feelings, cell phone owners ask their friends what they think is the right thing to do.
Although a cell phone brings more security for the children, they do not get used to the fact that they can get lost in the city; all they have to do is ask at home. This is a phenomenon that can also be experienced in cabs in hanover at cebit: at this time, anyone who can drive a cab at all has to get behind the wheel, even if they lack local knowledge. The amusing consequence during a nighttime cab ride through the now empty city: the female cab driver called her husband at home in bed every two minutes, who obviously normally drove a cab in hannover, and asked him how she had to drive, until she finally let him guide her through hannover completely by cell phone. Since this happened a few years ago, when cell phone calls were much more expensive than today, she certainly did not earn anything on this trip and did not make a particularly competent impression, although it is certainly worse for the passenger if the driver gets lost for miles at his expense and then claims that everything is correct as it is.
This kind of dependency also does not lead to normal phone calls or even the longer gemutlichen ratsch between friends, but rather to irritating short calls of a few seconds. The victims of such calls are then already put on speed dial keys and are sometimes even dialed several times a minute and interrupted in their work or free time. However, a colleague who is not particularly popular for this reason had already developed this strange habit on the normal landline phone years ago, so the cell phone is not a condition for this, only the chance of the called person to escape the constant inquiries is worse. But the sociologist fears that such behavior will become more common in the future if young people always have their parents’ cell phones with them, even as children. The independent thinking does not develop, instead it is constantly inquired in the group, which can have a very strange effect on the other members of the group under interposition of a telecommunication medium, without this being noticeable to the non-independent person.
Faster, more often, more superficial
Although the MTV generation can deal with constant interruptions by phone calls, SMS, instant messenger co. At first glance, were much better able to cope than older generations. But this constant acting and reacting without rest for reflection makes it very difficult for the person concerned to take time for himself and to find himself. Of course, this is not a new phenomenon, we all know those people, often female, who like to spend all their free time in pubs, running from one to another and talking to him, so as not to have to think about themselves. But here, too, the problem can be that the person on the phone doesn’t realize how much he’s annoying the others, whereas in the pub it’s only noticeable when everyone else sits down away from the nagging message.
As advantageous as telecommunicative social networking can be, in extreme cases it can lead to people who no longer think and feel for themselves, but rather let others think and feel for them; who first have to call, text or ask three other people from their clique via ICQ/IM to come to a decision. In early adolescence, such a phase is quite normal, but with the electronic umbilical cord it could become permanent, according to sherry turkle, and the inundation with more and more information leads to the person slipping into a completely superficial world in which it is only a matter of reacting as quickly as possible to incoming calls and text messages.
Logically, such people get bored extremely quickly when the usual distracting communication circus (telecommunicatively overstrained) is omitted?) and thus find it very difficult to learn at schools or universities. Since they have no opinion of their own, it is also very difficult for them to take responsibility and form deeper friendships.Instead, only the number of contacts pays – quantity instead of quality. Those who used to worry about whether they were wearing the right pants from the right in-brand now worry about how often their profile on myspace or openbc will be viewed…
