I think that Ullmen was trying to say that the internet, and
marketing as well, are individualizing people and making people think that they
are the only ones who are important. The commercialization, according to
Ullman, has “isolated the individual within a sea of economic activity” and
that “the world really does revolve around you.” While seeing this isolation
and individualization could be seen as a negative and selfish idea, I like to
think otherwise.
Technology
has made us feel like we have complete control and that we are important. With
all of the self-harm and body image issues that goes on in people’s minds today
– typically a result of the “idealization” marketing – I think that the knowledge
that you actually could change the world and that you do have a power over your
own life. Just like what she Ullman says about technology being an “enabling
technology” – a technical breakthrough that takes a difficult task and makes it
suddenly doable, easy – this is a positive thing that she thinks is negative.
While Ullman is trying to argue that all this technology is making people more self-centered, I don't think there's a lot of evidence to support that claim. People today (us millennials) are doing more to help the environment and the situation of other people more than previous generations have. That's not to say that previous generations haven't had any positive influence in the world, but I think that technology has given people a world view that they just haven't had before. We can see through pictures and live video the things that are going on in the world. People who have personal experiences in conflicts can get on the Internet and share their story without trying to convince a news agency to pick up the story. That kind of perspective is a valuable and even critical part of solving world problems.
ReplyDeleteHi Kendra,
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure reading your blog. Great insights, so far! =))
In addition, Ullman's concept of "disintermediation" might also be taken with a grain of salt -- while it is indeed possible to create online transactions without human assistance, it doesn't always follow that human/F2F interactions will be completely eliminated in the process. The idea is to learn how to manage our own affairs with balance; that is, we need to find ways to maximize technological advantages and minimize its disadvantages.
Dr. B
I see individualism as a very American ideal and a big part of our culture. However, those from non-Western cultures or even other western cultures value community over the individual and may see the value that we place on the individual as rude, arrogant, or suspicious. Individualism may be tied to the economic success and innovation of a group of people. "The United Kingdom, the USA and Netherlands are consistently among the most individualist countries, while Pakistan, Nigeria and Peru are among the most collectivist (4)." Individualist countries are more developed and have more technology, whereas collectivist countries tend to be less developed. while there are economic advantages to both types of culutres, individualist cultures tend to be better at long-run economic growth (Gorodnichenko 6).
ReplyDeleteThere are many advantages to technology and the individualism it promotes can be positive. However, I do think that, especially considering the many changes to our world that have happened since Ullman's publication of this article, there are some serious effects from the radical individualization our world has undergone that do need to be talked about and could cause major societal and economic issues, such as classism, the unethical treatment of those who are disadvantaged, and an underdevelopment of social skills in the greater population.
http://eml.berkeley.edu/~groland/pubs/IEA%20papervf.pdf
Hi Kendra,
ReplyDeleteThough late, kindly post your blog for Scholarly Article #3 for recording purposes. Note the complete set of blogposts required to submit a complete portfolio at the end of the semester and be eligible for passing the course (cf. course syllabus).
Looking forward to reading more from you this semester!
Best,
Dr. B
All responses recorded. ~Dr. B (sgd)
ReplyDelete