Twitter Trap
The Twitter Trap
STUDENT NAME: Pretty Vaddi
Student Number: 300782105
COMM 170
Instructor: Evelyn Holmes
The Twitter Trap
Bill Keller in “The twitter trap” published in The New york Times (18 May 2011) notes that he felt as though he had poisoned his daughter by allowing her onto Facebook. He equates it to giving a drug and sees it as eroding a youth’s intellect or skills development memory skills, math skills, penmanship, innate sense of direction, attention span, problem solving and decision making abilities. Given his daily job, he is well aware of the global appreciation for the internet. However, what are the costs, the personal costs? Recently, the advancement of technology has started to accumulate some controversy. Nowadays we rely on internet each and everything, it became a complete part of our lives. The social media pages created to keep us connected seem to follow us everywhere. Big companies can now grab our attention not only with their billboards, but with their Facebook and Twitter pages as well. In The Twitter Trap, Bill Keller argues that these new forms of media are “eroding characteristics that are essentially human: our ability to reflect, our pursuit of meaning, genuine empathy, and a sense of community.” He sees social media as aggressive distractions an attempt of contemplation. In many ways he may be right, but technology has a lot of benefits as well. Although advances in technology threaten the way we absorb and understand information, we must learn to incorporate the changes and use them to our advantage. Keller for his part, worries that technological advancements are dissolving basic human traits such as togetherness and deep thinking. Although many of the arguments against technological advances are valid, they are simply proving that the way we perceive information is changing and we must learn to adapt to this new way of learning. In moderation, these changes could even be beneficial. One of the most troubling
STUDENT NAME: Pretty Vaddi
Student Number: 300782105
COMM 170
Instructor: Evelyn Holmes
The Twitter Trap
Bill Keller in “The twitter trap” published in The New york Times (18 May 2011) notes that he felt as though he had poisoned his daughter by allowing her onto Facebook. He equates it to giving a drug and sees it as eroding a youth’s intellect or skills development memory skills, math skills, penmanship, innate sense of direction, attention span, problem solving and decision making abilities. Given his daily job, he is well aware of the global appreciation for the internet. However, what are the costs, the personal costs? Recently, the advancement of technology has started to accumulate some controversy. Nowadays we rely on internet each and everything, it became a complete part of our lives. The social media pages created to keep us connected seem to follow us everywhere. Big companies can now grab our attention not only with their billboards, but with their Facebook and Twitter pages as well. In The Twitter Trap, Bill Keller argues that these new forms of media are “eroding characteristics that are essentially human: our ability to reflect, our pursuit of meaning, genuine empathy, and a sense of community.” He sees social media as aggressive distractions an attempt of contemplation. In many ways he may be right, but technology has a lot of benefits as well. Although advances in technology threaten the way we absorb and understand information, we must learn to incorporate the changes and use them to our advantage. Keller for his part, worries that technological advancements are dissolving basic human traits such as togetherness and deep thinking. Although many of the arguments against technological advances are valid, they are simply proving that the way we perceive information is changing and we must learn to adapt to this new way of learning. In moderation, these changes could even be beneficial. One of the most troubling