Alone Together By Sherry Turkle: Article Analysis

The effects and impacts of technology continue to be a widely debated topic within the contemporary era. Sherry Turkle makes the provocative statement at the onset of her novel entitled, “Alone Together”, that suggests technology to be “seductive when it what if offers meets our human vulnerabilities”. (2011:1). Technology can be perceived to have primarily been designed for problem solving purposes, such as serving as a medium to improve efficiency or increase the production process, however, has since evolved into a platform that affects communication in various ways, for example by either boosting or hindering the human self-esteem.

Furthermore, as suggested by Turkle, technology is not considered for the advancements offered and made,

This notion of gravitating towards an informal style of writing and reporting will be discussed further discussed in broader detail with reference to the impacts of technology and new media.

A key factor to this change or evolution in journalism is credited to the rise of technology and new media. Maria Popova, writer for Wired UK, brought attention to the transition in journalism as a result of technological advances by posing the following question to critically acclaimed reporters and academics in an article entitled, “The Big Question: New media 's effect on Journalism”, “In the next decade, what new media platform will most affect journalism and self-expression?” (2010).

However, prior to examining and analysing the changes brought upon by new media, the history and evolution of journalism needs to be discussed. While few sources credit the origin of journalism, or the transmission of news, to the ‘word of mouth’ method, most document the origin of journalism to lie in China’s primary public information

Alternatively, the latter, which originated from the Tang dynasty, consisted of simple texts, known as a ‘bao’ or court document, used to inform government officials of particular current events. This form of publication continued until the end of 1911, undergoing various forms and names during the years, and similarly proved problematic, however was not for lack of legitimacy but rather due to the handwritten