Social interaction 2.0: Technology changes learning and friendship

You might read this article line by line, but the odds say most people scan through written material. Ever stop and ask why?

In the early 21st century, more people began a digital existence, creating profiles on social networks via the Web, according to Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

In 2005, 8 percent of adult Internet users owned a network profile compared to 35 percent in 2008, according to Lenhart.

Certainly these social networking sites keep users in touch with one another, but they change the way users live their lives because social interaction takes place electronically rather than in real life.

Eighty-nine percent of adults use the Internet for staying in contact with friends, while 91 percent of teens do as well, according to Lenhart. If people keep up with friends through social networks, logically they spend less time together offline.

By creating an online identity, people may not develop a personal self, according to Sherry Turkle, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Social networks make keeping up with people easier, but networks don't resemble real life.

This leaves a person little experience in developing real relationships in the world, according to Turkle. For example, in a conversation, people get instant feedback from each other. People also pick up on the body language of others which helps a person learn social rules and etiquette.

While the Internet keeps people in touch through social networks, we must question the purpose of social networking.

Social networks give people the option of posting information about themselves. Most of the information looks like something from a job application except users can include hobbies and interests as well. However, this information stands only as information without any purpose except what other users make out of it.

While social networks maintain loads of information about people, Microsoft PowerPoint brings condensed information to people. It focuses itself on the presentation of information, according to Turkle. Bullets and bar graphs constitute presentations. As students become more accustomed with this way of thinking, it changes how they understand the world, according to Turkle. Rather than discussing material, students passively observe presentations.

PowerPoint dominates the classroom by bringing summarized information to students. Professors elaborate on the material, but if the presentation contains too much content, little separates it from social networks where content runs wild. The Internet remains the king of information.

The Internet allows for access to unlimited information. Anyone can access this information. Social networks hold information. Blogs contain information.

While this online content contains more information than PowerPoint, and entertainment as well, PowerPoint remains a reflection of how people interpret information from the Internet.

Internet users consume information by scanning a page, according to Mark Bauerlein, English professor at Emory University. Sixteen percent of users read a Web page like a book while 84 percent look for visuals and keywords, according to a study cited by Bauerlein.

Since most people no longer read from one line to the next, they lose the ability of reading longer works, according to Bauerlein. Between 1982 and 2002, the number of people reading books dropped by 20 million people, according to Bauerlein's own study.

People spend more time chatting, blogging, watching videos, looking at pictures and downloading music, which leaves less time for reading, according to Bauerlein.

Instead of people focusing on one book or topic, people focus on several things at once. Such a switch changes the way people process information.

In the classroom, because PowerPoint helps present information in a clear, organized way, it doesn't allow for deep thinking or discussion, according to Turkle. If students never get into a deep discussion or reflect back on material other than studying for a test, they become an echo of the material presented to them.

When users look for information online through keywords, they also lose the ability of deep thought. Social networks keep people from going into deep understanding as well because of similar presentations like PowerPoint.

Rarely do people question the validity of information on a social network. No rules exist for keeping a person from presenting their self however they wish online. Such ability hinders our society because people process information without deep reflection which means they accept others at face value. By having less time for developing relationships through live interaction, people now have shallow and artificial relationships.

Does society value a population of shallow thinkers who multitask? Or instead does society value deep thinkers focused on one subject? No right answer exists, but people should remember what technology they use also changes their interpretation of the world. Not recognizing this point reveals quite an error in thinking.

Originally published in The Blue Banner, Spring 2009