For my ethnography assignment I went to the Starbucks in the Costa Verde Plaza. I went in with the intention of observing how people interact with their technologies when they are around other people who are also interacting with technologies. This observation was inspired by events in my own life that showed me how connected to my technological devices I am, and how I have integrated the technologies into face to face communication. My roommate and I were sitting in our room together, maybe two feet apart, and we were chatting on Facebook. Then she suddenly breaks the silence in the room and asks "why are we talking to each other on Facebook when we're two feet apart?"
This made me think about just how much I interact with my cell phone and laptop, and what the technologies mean to me. To me, my technologies are communication devices, ways to express myself, and forms of protection. Of course I use my phone and laptop to keep in contact with people--through text messaging, Facebook, Twitter. Or I could turn to my friend and show her something I see on Facebook that I find funny or show her a picture of a dress that I like. But my devices are also ways for me to express myself--taking pictures with my phone and uploading them on Facebook, writing about things that I think are funny on Twitter, and more. These are all uses that are common. But I've come to discover that I also use these devices as a shield. If I see someone I recognize, but don't want to acknowledge them I hide myself behind my phone and act like I'm in the middle of a text or something extremely important, and usually it works.
I thought of how technology can help break awkward boundaries as well. In any other coffee shop I probably wouldn't approach a random stranger with as much ease as I do and have seen done at a Starbucks where many people are with their technology. People aren't afraid to sit next to people they don't know so long as there is a device that separates them. In a way, being on our laptops is like entering into a virtual world. Sitting next to someone I don't know isn't uncomfortable because it's like we aren't even next to each other. I saw a lot of this happening at Starbucks--people who don't know each other (I assumed) asking to sit down and essentially invade a person's personal space. Having the common ground of technology in a sense makes people bold. I also noticed a lot of people smiling at their devices, which I know I am also guilty of. It was just funny to see how someone could feel so connected to another person through a device that the device could actually make them smile or laugh.
Technology has become an extension of ourselves. It protects us but also puts us in danger. People think that we are on our phones and laptops too much these days, but these devices have become a part of our lifestyle and our language. This became very evident to me while observing people at Starbucks. Anyways, those are just a few musings I had post-ethnography.
Sherry Turkle has written some interesting things about the phenomenon that you observed with people engrossed with their devices in her new book _Alone Together_ (which plays on Putnam's notion of how Americans are "Bowling alone" in the absence of traditional civic institutions).
ReplyDeleteHey Olivia,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post for your ethnography project. For 3 months now, I have been using a really old phone. I broke two of my smartphones and (as a college student), I couldn't afford to buy another. So I've been using a really old phone that does not have internet or apps. All I could do is text and call. Using this phone, I have realized how much technology and media had affected my life. However, I also realized that I won't die if I didn't check my email or instagram throughout the day. Haha, it's definitely interesting that we have engulfed our lives into communicating with technology.