The article ‘The flight from conversation’ by Sherry Turkle points out that the advancement in technology today has enabled a lot of people to communicate frequently, and, as a result, conversation is being viewed as an avenue for connection only. Being in social media at all times, when at home, in school and at work is changing what people really are. With this technology, people can be wherever they want, connecting with everyone they want, and they can achieve a new way of solitude.

People are too busy on their phones and laptops connecting with an online community, to the extent that they get no time to maintain quality relationships. Email, Twitter and Facebook and other online sites have taken control in conversations, but they can never substitute for a conversation. Face-to-face conversation teaches the value of patience and trust to enhance self-reflection, but digital conversations seek for rapid responses which are not based on trust.

The digital platforms create a feeling that one is being listened to and creates a false self-esteem that increases loneliness. Social networking is contributing to changing the way people relate to each other, thus what seemed as ‘nourishment’ has come to consume us. It is, therefore, important to uphold the value of relationships created by face-to-face conversations and control the use of digital devices, especially at home.

Parents should be in the frontline to lead by example and show their children the importance of conversations. They should control the time their kids spend online so that the same discipline can be instilled even when they become adults. Even if communication through social media is very important, we should remember that social relationships created by face-to-face communication are equally important. We should try as much as we can to cultivate self-confidence that comes along with it and boost our self-esteem.

Works Cited

Turkle, Sherry. “The flight from conversation. New York Times 22 April 2012: 1(L). Academic Onefile. Web. 23 November 2013.

Turkle, Sherry. “I will have to ask friends: Instant messaging, Wi-Fi and mobile phones allow us to be constantly plugged into our social networks. Sociologist, Sherry Turkle, thinks this is transforming human psychology. She tells Liz Else why she is concerned.” New Scientist 2006. Academic OneFile. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.