A blessing and a curse

 

For my interview project, I chose to speak with my niece T. A high school graduate with one semester of community college under her belt, T. is nineteen years old. She gave birth to my great nephew EJ last year. T. is currently planning on returning to community college at some point to work on some general education credits, but for now, she is employed full-time as a bank teller. 

Five months ago she got her first apartment. She lives with her boyfriend, the father of EJ. T. and I spoke through Facetime and I asked her questions about her attitude towards technology. T. defined technology as anything that requires electricity and that is wired to the internet. This included phones, laptops, and desktops. The main thing that makes something technology, she said, is whether or not it is connected to the internet. I asked her what she used the technology for and she told me she uses it to stay in touch with her family and friends, to get entertainment, to make plans. "Basically everything". For T., different social media platforms are used for different communication goals. For instance, she uses Snapchat to chat with her friends. Instagram is for also communicating with friends, but only through pictures. Facebook is used to document large events, such as her new job, her baby's first haircut, and holiday wishes. She also told me that she only Facetimes with me and her boyfriend. 

I then asked her how she decides to communicate. 

"Do you use texting most of the time, or do you ever use the phone?" 

"I like to use the phone for more complicated stuff, " she said. And then added, "but I'm pretty much the only person I know who still does that." 

I asked her when she first started to use technology in this manner. T. told me her first account was Instagram when she was in sixth grade. Her mother had to work all of the time, and since T. was now too old to go to daycare, that meant she would have to be home alone and her mother wanted a way to keep track of her. I asked her when she thought EJ would start to use the internet. 

"I think I'll let him get his own stuff when he is 8th grade." She said. 

After we talked a little more about her experiences with social media, I asked her what her overall impression of it was. Here is what she said: 

"I think technology is a blessing and a curse. You really can't do a lot without it in this day and age."

My niece provided me with an excellent example of multigenerational attitudes and experiences with the internet. I found it very interesting that her mother wanted her to begin using it as a way to keep track of her while her mother worked. Technology served as a way for T. to have a sense of independence, yet the reason for that newfound social outlet was specifically for her mother to keep an eye on her. My niece reported that she used the internet as the ultimate link to her friends, family, and the outside world. Yet she did not want her son to start using it until he was in the 8th grade; far older than she was when she began using it. 

I did not sense any irony or allusion to alienation when she told me about the ways she keeps in touch with her family and friends. Unlike the NPR interview with S. Turkle, my niece seemed to not only be satisfied but to thrive in the different mediums of each social media platform. Instead of a young woman who was floundering for attention and unable to define her relationships with others without their constant approval of her, such as what was suggested in some of our materials for this week, T. had categorized each platform by use and by relation. Facebook, for example, was a platform meant to be used for formal communications with her broadest audience: friends and family. Instagram was meant as a way to communicate with friends through photographs: an interesting take on literacy because it suggests the use of pictures in place of words. Finally, Snapchat was meant for sharing quick texts with friends, and Facetime was meant only for me and her boyfriend. Because my niece also told me she preferred to have natural, spontaneous conversations with people on the telephone, I wonder if this has something to do with the amount of fulfillment she draws from her use of social media. 

All in all, I have to say that I was impressed and refreshed with the way my niece was able to deftly explain the different meanings behind the uses of her platforms. If different platforms were meant for different kinds of people, it means she is able to recognize the nuances of human relations. While I never had any doubt that my niece was proficient at this (I admit to some conflict of interest because she is my FAVORITE NEICE), I am happy I had the chance to learn from her. 

T. taught me about the different ways to use social media platforms. While I do not intend to run out and get an Instagram or Snapchat or personal Facebook page, I left this interview with a deeper sense of appreciation for the world as it is seen through the eyes of a young mother. 

Thanks to everyone for checking out my interview! I hope you learned as much as I did. Cheers!