Module 1 Case
9/5/2012
The Disconnection of Being Connected
Martin Carnoy wrote: “Thanks to a communications and software revolution, we are more ‘connected’ than ever before—by cell phone, email, and video conferencing—yet more disconnected than in the past from social interaction.” In the past, any time you needed information or help doing something, you had to walk or ride into town and speak to whoever specialized in what you wanted to know. Face to face discussion was the only way to tell people things or to find things out. It later developed into calling one another, which no longer needed face to face but still required a decent amount of social skills. Now, social networks, the internet, and texting creates a world that many people can tap into for hours without ever seeing another human being. They can update hundreds of people in the split of a second on Facebook and Twitter using a smartphone, which I’ve seen people as young as 8 years old own. Angela Mollard blogged about this issue and stated, “But, recently I’ve felt disconnected, which is absurd because last year I received 13,506 emails, sent 432 tweets and became Facebook ‘friends’ with someone I kissed in 1989. I’m so connected that I go online the second I wake up. I’m linked in, favourited, retweeted, liked” (Mollard, 2012). As Mollard states, I also believe that all of this technology connection has done nothing but pull us in closer to the virtual people while in all reality, pushing the people in our everyday lives away. Its incredibly hard to have any type of relationship with someone when your head is always stuck in some type of screen, whether it be a computer, cell phone or tablet. “As a Counselor in Philadelphia, I see so many couples, individuals, and families who are struggling with a sense of disconnection. At a time when our cell phones allow us to be tethered to the