Stefana Broadbent’s TEDTalk, ‘How The Internet Enables Intimacy’ looks at how internet technologies are actually providing closer relationships between users of the internet. She points out that while someone might have 120 to 200 friends on Facebook and other social network sites, the average person will talk to five or fewer each day. This seems completely applicable to my personal life as I rarely message individuals on my Facebook account that I do not talk to already on a daily basis. The biggest hurdle that the internet has overcome is the ability to connect with people over great distances. The example of the Brazilian couple who would once a week Skype with their family allows them to cultivate a deep relationship with their loved ones even though they may be physically far away. Furthermore she brings up examples of people at work who work late-night or odd shifts being able to say good night to their loved ones. This technology that allows us to communicate with people in our lives that we care most about was not a possibility to such a degree for generations before us.
Broadbent’s TEDTalk got me
thinking of how social networking and online interaction is progressing on the
web. Social networking platform Path is
doing exactly what Broadbent is talking about. The service limits connections
to only 150 friends and they encourage you to select only your highest-quality
connections. The idea behind Path came from psychology research the suggested
people have a maximum number of workable social contacts. This limitation
allows users to share more personal information with their friends and family
while knowing is still safe and secure. Path’s creation of “Inner circles of
social contacts” I feel is great step in the right direction to achieve intimacy
on the internet. Broadbent believes that
the separation of work and personal connections is not fair for workers. She feels
that corporations blocking social media and connections from their employees
are greatly discouraging it’s workers.
Today’s technology market is a vast one, with so many products coming to the surface for consumers to choose from, it is a great time to live in but are we ignoring the costs that these services are producing? Corporations like Foxconn are horrifying workplaces where it’s hard to believe that individuals actually work there. Foxconn manufactures an insane proportion of the world’s electronic devices and their working conditions are appalling. For example, the example from class where they installed suicide nets around their buildings so workers could no longer throw themselves from the tops of them is just absolutely ridiculous. Obviously they’re missing the bigger problem here, that their insane work shift hours and low wages are pushing people far past their limits. The highest paid position is looking at $1.80/hour, and “official” work hours being at 8 hours, which you know if B.S. because they have been caught not paying hundreds of thousands in unpaid overtime payments.
As consumers we are part of this problem however. With the need to always have the latest, fastest, and coolest gadgets on the market we are fueling these outrages working conditions. We must ask ourselves, do we really need that new IPhone 5S when we already have an IPhone 5? Do we really get that much gratification from materialistic items as we think we do? Or should we step back and really analyze how we as consumers are shaping these markets. Honestly, If we demanded more accountability from large corporations wouldn’t they have to eventually listen and change?
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