Even though this image is just stick figures, the point is the same. Thanks to the advent of personal computers over the last few decades, many people's lives have become more sedentary than what they would have been otherwise, with all sorts of entertainment and socializing being done just sitting in front of a computer, perhaps alone.
Of course, that's not to say this shows the typical person in today's world. It shows a stereotypical Internet-addicted (perhaps introverted) computer user, sitting alone in their room in front of their computer, wearing headphones and staring at the screen. Most of the depictions in this image could ring true for lots of people our age (they do for me), but not necessarily everyone out there - I figure that at home most people still have landline phones; most people probably prefer to watch movies with friends or family, not alone; and they still do print newspapers.
This image is meant to be an amusing depiction of many Internet communities, and it is. People who don't use technology all that much (or as much as the people this picture alludes to) might look at it and think "Yeah that looks about right - and he should go outside and play with his friends" or something similar.
When you look at this image, it urges you to take the viewpoint of either someone who disapproves of the use of computers for everything from reading news to entertainment - and then to decide, is it really all that bad? Is this what our culture is heading toward, or should we work to avoid that?
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ReplyDeleteInteresting topic. There has been a lot of debate about the internet and desocialization. But I wonder, if someone is socializing on the internet, are they truly alone? They are still interacting with groups of people and displaying their own personality. And they would also still have to abide by group norms, even if those norms would be enforced electronically and not in person. Thanks for making me think haha.
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