Digital Isolation and the Languages of Connection

This is a response to Cheri Lenkensdorfer’s post, Isolation in a Digital World. She talks about the isolation experienced by people who don’t have the latest technology, e.g. smartphones. I think she have a great point; I’d like to back it up and also to play the devil’s advocate a little.

I’ve also been on both sides. My best friend, who lives in Idaho, didn’t get texting until a few months ago and still doesn’t have a webcam. I don’t have a smartphone or tablet, which cuts me off from the app world and the joys of mobile internet access. When I was on my mission we were not allowed to text, and it was aggravating. For example, sometimes contacts we’d call would insist on us telling them via text who we were before they’d pick up the phone, creating an impasse. (Happily, that rule has changed. Along with many others regarding internet use.) In a more voluntary case of lack of backwards compatibility, I’ve also missed a mission companion’s wedding reception because she didn’t really use Facebook to invite people and we hardly ever talk in person.

In the case of my friend not making a Facebook event and me not having a smartphone, you could argue that we isolate ourselves. I don’t like the costs of a smartphone, but technically we could both get what we lack. Nothing’s impossible; my 86-year-old grandpa bought an iPhone a couple of years ago and uses it at a basic level to look things up, text, take pictures, and talk with his family. Although his iPhone doesn’t have a data plan, he also has an iPad which he uses to video chat.

 

I don’t have a picture of him on his iPhone, but you can see it on his belt. We’re pretty tickled by his technology usage.

Technology can and often does help us to connect. In many ways, it can be our connecting language. If someone you love but whom you rarely talk to – like your grandma or your tween-age brother – tastefully tweeted or updated their Facebook status every couple of days, wouldn’t you feel like you better knew what was going in their lives? And be more likely to comment or otherwise interact with them? My aunt kept a blog for a while, which the rest of us loved, and now my tween-age sister blogs as well. I love reading their blogs, and sometimes comment. Has your family ever given a piece of tech to a relative in the hopes that they’ll use it? I’m sure we’ve all wished that someone was “with it” in technology, whether that means being on Facebook, Skype, or Instagram or a games app.

Cheri said, “I think it's really easy to get so caught up in the cool new gadgets and toys that we forget the importance of watching out for the people around us. Luckily, the fix is just as easy: remember to look out for those around us.” I think that goes for the less-tech-privileged people as well. It’s important to try to connect with people in their connection language, whatever it is. Those of us without “standard” technology or software can probably reach out more just like those enveloped in their technology. Whenever I do get a smartphone, I’ll be better able to connect with people I know. While respecting financial limits and the limits of “old age,” we are too young to get stuck in a technological rut. There is so much out there and so much more to come!