Technology Is Fragmenting Community - True? (Full Version)

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rapturefish -> Technology Is Fragmenting Community - True? (5/10/2008 12:11:04 AM)

I'm sure that technology is having a detrimental effect on the way society - and therefore church communities - communicate and relate, thereby having a negative effect on community.

Of course it's purely anecdotal on my end, but what do you think?

I went overseas to live in 1999, and at the time mobile phones were still nowhere near as ubiquitous as they are now. The place I went to embraced technology earlier than where I came from and I quickly found out that unless I had e-mail and a mobile phone, I was cut off from community altogether. Up till that point I had considered it quite possible, even a legitimate and acceptable lifestyle choice not to have those things. I was not impressed, but eventually had no choice but to accept that in that country it was stupid not to follow and to join that mode of talking to others.

I longed for the better community of my former country all the time I was there. I could no longer have an uninterrupted conversation or long talks (even short meaningful talks) with people because people began to prefer SMS or e-mails (short ones or broadcast ones) as well as being interrupted or cut off by a ringing mobile.

After a few years I returned.

Guess what? Technology by this time had motastisised into my home country. I could see that while things seemed better than the other place the very nature of relating had also changed and fragmented. People were busier than ever to the point where relating to others was limited to Sunday services and everyone had to do something all the time so the talks had to be short and relatively unfruitful.

It's upsetting to see this. I thought it was just the other country, or even this country's people, but I see that it's the nature of a culture dictated surreptitiously by technological shifts. I am not immune - I'm getting busier and barely have the energy to relate to others meaningfully. I just knew the world to be a lot better than this when relating some ten plus years ago. I know the people I try to relate to these days, they're not bad people, in fact they're quite caring, but honestly getting a "txt msg" in bad English or an e-card or an e-flowerpot on Fb is hardly meaningful to me. It's cheap.

Not that I don't see some benefits, or I wouldn't be writing this on a forum on the internet or what have you. Technology has enabled some communication to be possible where before there wasn't any. But...

Does anyone else have this lament? Does anyone else find the church is becoming more fragmented as a community because of the impact of technology on the way we relate and be as a community?



SonInMe1 -> RE: Technology Is Fragmenting Community - True? (5/10/2008 8:06:04 AM)

Technology has isolated us more than anything, I think.

It wasn't that long ago people actually wrote letters....talked to their neighbors....kids played outside....people had one tv....no computer...a record player....of did I mention the tv was black and white?



DustyLady -> RE: Technology Is Fragmenting Community - True? (5/10/2008 9:21:47 AM)

Actually, I see the reverse as being true. I think technology has the potential of enriching our communities in many wonderful ways. Just a few examples here:

My pastor regularly e-mails his sermon text to any member who didn't attend church. I know that i often have to miss services due to work or other commitments, and it really makes me feel good to be exposed to the word of God, even in written form. It also lets me know that someone is thinking about me, and actually noticed that I wasn't in church on a particular day.

For three years, my job had me moving around the country. I never stayed put for more than a couple of months in any one place. Because of this, I was essentially without a church home. Sure, I could have visited in one church or another, but it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like I was a part of the community. So I came on line and found communities like this one here. I made friends, I was able to worship my Lord, and I received support and enrichment in my personal life.

Just think of the wonderful opportunities for ministry that our modern technology offers us. Think of all the people who might not come to church, but might read an e-mail, or visit a public forum, or participate in a chat room.

DustyLady



zamdad -> RE: Technology Is Fragmenting Community - True? (5/10/2008 12:30:17 PM)

I've developed a theory. We have more ways to communicate with each other, but we know each other less and less. I don't think we can blame the technology. We are the problem. We are too busy. We have too many things going on. We're too distracted. We're like hamsters on the whelel running as fast as we can and going nowhere.

In essence, we're too busy to slow down and listen to God. Why should we slow down and listen to one another?



Ephesians4_32 -> RE: Technology Is Fragmenting Community - True? (5/10/2008 12:50:49 PM)

I used to get snail mail with photos in them. Now I don't even get the snail mail and I receive fewer birthday cards. I prefer the paper cards that sometimes have added touches like ribbon and glitter. Oh, well.



LCannon -> RE: Technology Is Fragmenting Community - True? (5/10/2008 1:28:10 PM)

Probably 'technology' has shrunk the scope of society; brought it more immediate, the 24/7 news cycle, instant communication, but cheapened it's sense of consensus hence more fragmented without regard for ramification or consequence.



DustyLady -> RE: Technology Is Fragmenting Community - True? (5/10/2008 2:28:40 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: zamdad

I've developed a theory. We have more ways to communicate with each other, but we know each other less and less. I don't think we can blame the technology. We are the problem. We are too busy. We have too many things going on. We're too distracted. We're like hamsters on the whelel running as fast as we can and going nowhere.



I beg to differ. I met my husband through a forum similar to this one. By the time we actually got together, after six months of exchanging e-mails, I knew him far better than I did most of the people I grew up with. There are other people I have known for years, and consider very close friends, whom I've never communicated with other than through e-mail. You get out of it what you put in.

Dusty



rapturefish -> RE: Technology Is Fragmenting Community - True? (5/12/2008 10:25:10 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: zamdad

I've developed a theory. We have more ways to communicate with each other, but we know each other less and less. I don't think we can blame the technology. We are the problem. We are too busy. We have too many things going on. We're too distracted. We're like hamsters on the whelel running as fast as we can and going nowhere.



It could be a chicken and egg argument. Did we become too busy because technology enabled us to do more than before, thereby causing us to try and fit more and more into the same hours? Or maybe the push for new products were marketed such that we felt we had to buy them in order not to be left out rather than because we needed them (I mean, what was wrong with the landline?). Or, are we really just becoming more shallow in our relationships and technology just put the resources there to meet that need? I think the latter two are the answer in my view.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DustyLady

I beg to differ. I met my husband through a forum similar to this one. By the time we actually got together, after six months of exchanging e-mails, I knew him far better than I did most of the people I grew up with. There are other people I have known for years, and consider very close friends, whom I've never communicated with other than through e-mail. You get out of it what you put in.

Dusty


That's a good point, thank you. Where you put in time and effort in communicating, the value increases. While I still appreciate snail mail much more, a lengthy e-mail definitely counts still. In that case then I guess technology remains more a neutral tool or means than a culture-changing detriment.



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