The relationship between Turkle and Wesch is an understanding that people need connection. I think they have different views on how to go about that connecting, Turkle seeming to be turning an about face regarding technology and Wesch using it as a co-teacher. Both of them talk about using technology as a place to “practice” real life but both shy from understanding or appreciating that for many, even at that time, the internet was home and very real. Turkle’s work around the Internet and virtual communities tells me that she knew that there was value in them. Wesh fashions a new version of geography and world understanding using maps and project based learning. I see them as allies because I think that they both want us to take (safe and detached) advantage of how human to human relationships buoy us and provide fruitful, thoughtful and rich connections. I’m trying to give grace the fact that the article and the TEDTalk are nearing a decade old-a lot has changed. Especially the way that we engage with each other, our digital footprint and how our environment plays into how we are able to access relationships.
For the most part, both Turkel and Wesch seem to be speaking about people who are overall “well” when they speak about human connections and technology. Currently, I am trying to practice thinking about the ways my everyday life has changed due to my income, ability level and access to other adults. Prior to the pandemic I would have said I was absolutely an introvert and could do without people. What the pandemic showed me was that I had in fact, been building a community that came alive in a different way. For the most part I was healthy and able to function, but it wasn’t too long before I started having hiccups in my well being. It was internet friends that helped, that delivered food, that sent mail, that participated in my GoFundMe and continued mutual aid. So many of us were a part of some form of mutual aid and We help each other. Most of those relationships were people I knew in real life, but many were folks I met online from some group or post or who knows where at this point. What I did know was that isolation was not where I was safe or desired to be. Technology gave me the option to connect and be connected to in a way that was not otherwise available. Here is some other ways that online communities have been beneficial for people here
Our level of health and access are variables to our connections: Here are some ways that our connection to people in real life can be altered:
-Sickness
-Disability (almost 60 million Americans)
-Incarcerated (almost 3 million people incarcerated in the States)
-poverty (55-60 million people)
-Trauma
-Time
-Space
-Transportation
Our society continues to inundate us with information, violence and capitalist propaganda. We must be honest that we have embedded technology in almost everything that we do. We must continue to be careful about our engagement and be open to the transformational opportunities that online connecting us offersWe can have fruitful lives off and online and we do. I value the relationships that technology has offered me and I hope that I am able to continue to make new ones.
I agree with you that it is so important to be able to have digital competency when it comes to the world. There is so much negativity, hate and false narratives online. That said we are all, as human beings, trying to make connections. During the pandemic, those connections became more and more digital as we spent more and more time at home. The online world is a useful tool, but only if utilized the right ways.
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