Social or Anti - Social? Problem: Method

Bloom
S. Burg
Literature and Society – Dr. Sherry
09/28/10
Social or Anti-‐Social?
Problem
Michael Sherry 1/20/11 5:45 AM
We live in an age where people are absolutely dependent upon technology to get through the Comment [1]: Bloom, I can see that you’ve
addressed my comments in this revision—thanks for
day. Technological advances have undoubtedly had many benefits on our society; communication is your good work 
easier than ever before, homework and grading are now streamlined technological processes, and
anything a person would want to know can be found on the internet with the click of a mouse. However,
at what point does this technology become too much? How has this shift from person-‐to-‐person
interaction into computer mediated communication affected college culture? In this paper I will address
these questions using ethnographic data in the form of interviews and first-‐hand accounts collected by
Comment [2]: PCT (punctuation)
myself and my colleagues. I will then use this data to draw conclusions about how people communicate
in a university setting in this day and age.
Background
Using technology for communication is something that almost everybody does on day to day
basis. Whereas people used to make phone calls and actually talk to one another, now a majority of
Comment [3]: WM (word missing)
people send text messages or e-‐mails. According to the Nielsen Company, American teenagers sent and
received an average of 2,272 text messages per month in the fourth quarter of 2008, which is almost 80 Comment [4]: PCT
messages a day, and is double what it was the year before [1]. See # 2 (and compare to “person-‐to-‐person”)
Another computer mediated communication device is Facebook. Today, it is harder to find
someone without a Facebook than it is to find someone with one. Facebook used to be used by people
Comment [5]: See #2
to keep in touch with friends and family whom they rarely saw, but today it is used to communicate
even by people and roommates who live in the same house or dorm room.
The use of e-‐mail is on the rise as well. In earlier times if you had a question about something Michael Sherry 10/7/10 6:09 AM
Comment [6]: WC (word choice)
from class, you would go to your professor’s office, sit down, interact with the professor, and talk the Conventionally, in this genre one uses the more
problem out until the question was answered. Now, people can sit in their homes and send their formal “one” to suggest generalizability and appear
more credible as a researcher.
questions through e-‐mail without having to physically interact with someone.
Comment [7]: I can see that you’ve responded to
Which type of communication is preferred today? Is computer-‐mediated communication the my comments here 
preferable method for Bloomsburg University students? Is face-‐to-‐face interaction ideal? How might
These questions are still phrased as “yes/no”
students react when calling friends and receiving calls as well? Is the process of meeting new people by questions (though there are more of them).
approaching naturally and starting a conversation preferable? Compare to “What role (if any) does technology play
in mediating the communication of students at
Bloomsburg?” An open-‐ended question like this not
Method only allows you more room to INterpret, but also
suggests to your readers that this research was a
true exploration (rather than a foregone
conclusion).
To find the answers to these questions I conducted ethnographic research methods similar to
those used by Nathan and Moffatt. These methods included behavioral observations as well as
Comment [8]: PCT
interviews to truly get my fellow students’ perspectives. The interviews were conducted through
questioning my colleagues/classmates, and to observe behavior I often sat in open spaces on campus to Comment [9]: I like that you include reference to
watch people’s behavior and interactions with one another. This was helpful in gaining insight and these readings (in keeping with the assignment). 

certainly helped me to analyze/attribute what college students’ actions may say about their Elaborate? How were these methods similar? Why
were they useful models?
worldview/perspective.
Findings Comment [10]: I like how you’ve revised to
specify what you did and why 
I will first state the broad results from the interviews, and then will go further in depth in each
category [2]. Out of 20 people I interviewed, every single person said that they texted during the day, and
most said that they send at least 3 e-‐mails per week. Out of these 20, only 3 people did not have a
Comment [11]: 
Facebook account [3].
Comment [12]: VT (verb tense)
Not only did all those who were interviewed text during the day, but most said they would feel
weird if they didn’t. Most felt that texting was a great way to stay in touch with many friends
simultaneously. One person even went so far as to say “I would feel naked if I left the house without my
phone”. This type of communication is also preferable (according to the interviews) because it lets the
person sending the message clearly think out what they would like to say. This suggests that people are
adopting a high self-‐monitoring attitude, and mediated communication can help them control what they
say rather than making snap-‐judgments and blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. The last
reason why most liked texting was because “It is a nice way to get to know someone new. When you
Comment [13]: UNN (unnecessary)
first meet someone, sometimes it’s awkward sitting there in person because you don’t know what to say
all the time, but with texting it’s only one message every few minutes, and you feel less pressured”. This
suggests that when a person has more time to think of what they want to say, they feel less pressured to
keep a conversation moving like they would in a face-‐to-‐face setting, which in turn makes
communicating less daunting [4].
Out of these 20 [5], only about 5 people sent less than 3 e-‐mails per week. Most people say that
they need to e-‐mail their professors almost every other day to clarify an assignment or ask for their
grades [6]. This, as with texting, may suggest that people feel less pressured when communicating behind
a keyboard as opposed to sitting in an office and talking with someone. This also suggests that students
Comment [14]: I like that you connect this
are dependent upon e-‐mail for getting assignments and other announcements [7]. explicitly to the previous example, building a case
for this INterpretation 
17 out of 20 people have a Facebook account [8]. This is not very surprising, but what was
surprising was the way these individuals use Facebook. As someone had said in class, “often times I will
receive friend requests from people who I met for a brief period of time on a weekend, and when I see
them in person they don’t say hi or acknowledge me”. This suggests that people are comfortable with a
Comment [15]: Further support for your
relationship and a way of communication which is mediated through technology, but have a certain INterpretation about the pressure of face-‐to-‐face
communication. 
degree of apprehension when it comes to face-‐to-‐face interaction. Others like Facebook because “It lets

you express yourself exactly how you want to”. This is seen often; people have their pictures set up just Here, as above, I notice that this point appears in
the middle of the paragraph and is followed by
how they like them, and they have all their personal information and interests filled out so that people other Interpretations. What’s gained and lost by
this?
develop a favorable impression of them. You would be hard-‐pressed to find someone with a profile
picture which made them look terrible; one where the person has bags under their eyes, where their
Comment [16]: See #6
hair is all messed up, and they look fat [9]. As a case in point, when browsing college students Facebook
pages, I’ve noticed that overweight students’ profile pictures tend to be of their faces only, as opposed
to full-‐body pictures. This is most likely a deliberate attempt to hide their excess weight, because in
today’s society this excess weight considered ugly and unattractive, and therefore makes a person an
Comment [17]: A telling example to INsert 
outcast if they are a bit heavier. It would also be difficult to find someone whose personal information
was 100% truthful. For example, you probably wouldn’t see “having sex with multiple random partners” Comment [18]: WM (word missing)
in someone’s “interests” box because people don’t want to be perceived as dirty nymphomaniacs or just Michael Sherry 10/7/10 6:20 AM
weird in general. These examples suggest that being socially accepted is a huge factor in college Comment [19]: I like how you situate this as a
societal value, rather than your own 
students lives[10].
Comment [20]: A relevant and even humorous
Conclusion example…but probably not the one you should use
when you submit this to an undergraduate research
Based on the data I collected, the culture at Bloomsburg has been greatly affected by the use of forum.
technology as a means of communication. Today, most of the students prefer texting, e-‐mailing, and Michael Sherry 10/7/10 6:21 AM
Comment [21]: Can you make this
using Facebook as a means of communication as opposed to years ago when people did not use such INterpretation more specific to the examples that
means. You’d only have to sit on a bench in the quad to see how many students are walking and texting precede it?
instead of keeping their heads up and seeing or talking to people. Students have a need to be social and
“in the loop”, but this new, mediated way of being social seems to conflict with actual face-‐to-‐face
interpersonal skills.
To me, this suggests that people are becoming too anti-‐social in person. A similar conclusion was
also drawn by Nathan and Moffatt when they observed that students are resistant to participating in
group activities. However, Nathan and Moffatt’s research was conducted before technology was where
it is today, and they reached this conclusion on the belief that people were too individualistic, whereas I
reached it by questioning modern communication techniques. If people don’t want to talk face-‐to-‐face,
but would rather project who they want to be seen as, this leads to major problems. If students have on
Comment [22]: I like how you’ve both
their Facebook profiles information about “who they are” and “what they like”, and also constantly talk connected to Nathan and Moffatt and also
reinterpreted their findings in light of your own! 
to people on it, they build themselves up as this certain individual. But if they are still shy and awkward
in person, this can cause serious identity problems. Too much computer mediated communication also
leads to greater anxiety and stress. If college students can’t text or use Facebook they usually feel
disconnected with the world around them, and consequently become very anxious. People also have
less peace of mind because they are constantly sending and receiving new messages. It’s no coincidence
that there are more reported cases of anxiety and depression nowadays [11]. Perhaps if something
doesn’t change, face-‐to-‐face interaction as well as actually meeting new people in person will become Comment [23]: An interesting implication—I like
antiquated practices. how you raise this possibility for further research in
this area 

Qualify by using “perhaps this explains…”?

Bloom, this is excellent work in the way it raises

relevant questions, draws on related research, and
makes compelling conclusions 

Have you considered submitting this (with a little
revision) to an undergraduate research forum?

1. Hafner, Katie. "Texting May Be Taking a Toll." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News
& Multimedia. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html>.

2. Introduction
3. Insertion
4. Interpretation
5. Introduction
6. Insertion
7. Interpretation
8. Introduction
9. Insertion
10. Interpretation
11. Brondou, Colleen. "Study Shows Increase in Anxiety, Depression in Young People." Finding
Dulcinea. 11 Jan. 2010. Web. 28 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/health/2010/jan/Study-Shows-Increase-in-Anxiety--
Depression-in-Young-People.html>.

Social or Anti - Social? Problem: Method

Încărcat de

Informații document

Descriere originală:

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Social or Anti - Social? Problem: Method

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Bloom

Literature and Society – Dr. Sherry