"No need to Call"

The title of chapter ten is the best description to give for a summary of this chapter and the topic of this weeks blog. In this chapter Sherry Turkle,I think, brings up one great point in the reasons we as a technology advanced society, and many teenagers who grew up in this society as children see it more efficient and beneficiary to text, instant message, or social network chat before making a phone call. One main point that i hadn't really thought about before reading this chapter is when Turkle said;

"When you can think about what you're going to say, you can talk to someone you'd have trouble talking to. And it doesn't seem weird that you pause for two minutes to think about what you're going to say before you say it, like it would be if you were actually talking to someone."

It never really occurred to me that this was the reason we decided to use these new ways of talking, and not just phone calls, because in just moments we can go from not knowing a answer to a persons text, to hoping on google to get the answer and send it in less than a minute. Texting and instant messages allows us to create yet another "persona" where we sound more perfect than we do in real life, because we are able to take those few moment in between texting to do so.We are changing so much that teenagers and kids are even being praised on their ability to text. After looking around i even found an article from the Wall Street Journal about the New York Text-Messaing Championship, and it was not surprise to me that a teenager Kate Moore 15 years old won the whole competition. Here's a link to the actual competition. Text-Messaging Championship

The thought that these kids grew up with these technologies and were taught how to use them at such a young age are very interesting. Turkle also talks about this in this chapter, she describes it as "Overwhelmed across the Generations" Many of these older generations who did not grow up with the technologies we have now, are trying to incorporate themselves and become a part of them. "The fastest-growing demographic on Facebook is adults from thirty-five to forty-four." She brings up a very interesting thought about those who migrated to Facebook, those who were older, and the so called "natives" those teenagers who grew up using Facebook and people from the older generations who were introduced when it was fairly new. One example in the "natives" vs. the migrants that we see in in this sprint commercial.

This guy has no idea how to do something on Facebook that teenagers, some of which are too young to even have a Facebook can do in two seconds. What i take mainly from this example and most of the chapter is that people want to be accepted, not only accepted but appreciated. Texting, and Social Networking not only allow you to do this but makes it easier by molding yourself into the perfect answer, the best joke, or the most likes. In today's society it seems like people rather be known for who they are in these digital worlds through, texting, and social media, than in real life.

"Always on" chapter 8 from Alone Together by Sherry Turkle

"Why do we expect more from technology and less from each other"

I think Sherry Turkle gives a strong argument to that very quote in chapter eight. One main point in the theory that we are always on, always connected to media, the internet, and our socialnetworking is her focus on "Multitasking and the Alchemy of time". With The technology that we have today, an ipad can allow me to go from my social network apps to my school apps in two touches, and by just sweeping across the screen with four fingers I can swipe between apps that I have up which can be over twenty.


Sherry Turkle said "when media are always there, waiting to be wanted, people lose a sense of choosing to communicate." As a college student I see this almost everywhere, people are completely fine, sitting by themselves in the cafe, or waiting in a lobby, as long as they have that connectivity, that smart phone, that tablet, that iPad, any device that allows them to connect to their other life online. Sherry believes that this is because our "cultural norms are rapidly shifting. This is because kids today, I think kids equate growing up with getting the new device that will allow then to connect with the other kids that have that device in their "online social community". She brings up another good Theory that "our networked devices encourage a new notion of time because they promise that one can layer more activities onto it" we see this in many different advertisement commercials as well. Sprint offers 4G and 3G smart phones and in this commercial ad they're showing you all thi things you could be doing almost simateaneously by being apart of their network and purchasing one of their networked devices.

With this new "notion of time" it allows those people who have those devices to have these different devices to live in a what Sherry Turkle calls a "pauseable life". We see this almost everywhere, in the classroom, in restaurants, and even theme parks, people put their real life on hold to answer to their "connected" life. So "Why do we expect more from technology and less from each other", because we can do more. We can do anything these products have to offer from anywhere we want to do them at. With this accesisibility it is no wonder why we are "always on"

"Reading" Cybercultures

In the first chapter of our reading for the week, there was a general introduction to what a Cyberculture is. Even though this was a sort of overview for us, It still gave me a deeper understanding into cybercultures. I think one main idea that I got out of the reading is the understanding of how cyberspace is developing and changing the way we access the different cyber cultures we might affiliate ourselves with. In our reading it says that "Cyberspace is also produced by multimedia applications such as mobile phones, electronic surveillance, and video conferencing." Cyberspace is also called the "information space" the place were most Americans get theirs news, how to recipes, and even their horoscopes.


According to Encyclopedia of New Media (Kendall 2007) Cyberculture is defined as "cultures formed in or associated with online spaces." with these spaces being found in cyberspace, and cyberspace being able to be accessed from our mobile phones in our pocket, then does this mean that our Cyberculture is actually becoming apart of our everyday culture? I chapter one Nayar argues that "There is no one Cyberculture: because it has been so normalized, appropriated, altered, and domesticated into our everyday lives, there are in fact many Cybercultures, of which the Internet is perhaps the most common" With the addition of many 3G and 4G devices that allow us to access these Cybercultures from anywhere it is no longer a far fetched idea that Cyberculture is "attached to connected with, replicates, extends, and augments real-life conditions" One example where we see these Cybercultures effect and change real life conditions is in the case of Kevin Durant and his tweets. On December 23rd Kevin Durant tweeted that he would be giving away shoes at various locations throughout Oklahoma City. These tweeted caused Traffic Jams throughout the Oklahoma City Area.

This is just one example of how Cybercultures extend real-life conditions and are becoming apart of our everyday culture. The book in general, and especially this chapter treats the cyberspace environment as "not simply a parallel universe but as an extension and augmentation of the everyday one." We not only saw this in Kevin Durants tweets, but we see this millions of times a day when someone gets an invite on Facebook for a party, or baby shower. Our Social Networks and Cybercultures even change our plans for what were doing next Friday night. Cybercultures not only exist but they affect our lives in many more ways than we think, and some would like to admit.

One main point in this chapter that really got me thinking was the quote that said:

"This book does not treat cyberspace as an independent entity but as one that is connected to the material world with all its attendant problems and concerns. While cultures determine what form of technologies develop, these technologies, in turn, shape cultures."

This may have been the most enlightening thought that i got from this chapter, mainly becuase i believe it is true or so many levels. A couple months back i got an Ipad 2, and not only is this a new technology that I'm now apart of. I realized that the apps that i get not only determined by the different Cybercultures im apart of, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but i also changes the content that i share with those cultures. A great example is Flipboard, Flipboard allows me to find interesting media, news, and entertainment from many different brands and corporations like ABC News, Men's Health, and Rolling Stones. Not only can i access this at anytime, but i can also share them immediately with friends from various Cybercultures that i have linked with Flipboard. Being able to grab information from anywhere in one application and sharing it with all my friends and followers, not only shape how i get information out, but also changes and shapes my "Cybercultures".

In my introduction blog I tried to explain the reason we better need to understand digital culture. In this blog i think that it explained itself, Cybercultures not only are becoming more and more popular, but they are becoming more accessible, and i think that is the greatest reason why we need to better understand them. 

Digital Cutltures Intro.

Hey Everyone,


I would like to introduce you to my new blog for my Capstone Seminar class, Digital Culture & Social Media. My name is Stefen and throughout this semester i will be blogging on different topics that we talk about in our classes. one main topic that we discussed in previously was "the role that digital culture plays in your life and why we need to better understand it." This topic is one that i thought about for a while.

Personally i think that we need to understand these digital cultures mainly because they are becoming more, and more of an everyday reality for many people, including myself. Social Networking sites and different online communities not only offer free membership, but a chance for people to meet new friends by matching up based on different likes, and interest. These blog entries will be the thoughts of my experience on these different digital cultures and the readings from Glen Creeber, Stuart Allan, and Sherry Turkle.