Sherry Turkle - "Alone Together"

I came across this TED talk and it gave me a lot of reflection on my own life and the lives of my Korean students.  When I was 14 and in high school, my father bought our first home computer (1999).  I lived alone with him, so I had plenty of free time and access to this computer.  Within six months I had developed a serious internet gaming addiction.  I suffered through it for almost a year.  I lost all social connections to the real world.  I was doing terrible in school.  And eventually with my dad's help, I had to give up the computer and playing video games and did so until I graduated from high school.

Since then I have been wary of technology and virtual socialization because I do believe it strongly erodes a person's ability to interact in the real world.  I did not get my first cell phone until 2007.  I resisted getting facebook for years.  I have never used Twitter.  And I still do not have a smart phone.

I see children growing up now who have smart phones in the first grade.  Internet addiction is a serious problem in developed nations (especially South Korea) and this idea of everyone being "alone together" is only going to get stronger as our technology continues to replace face-to-face real time interaction.

Here is her interview on the Colbert Report:

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