Thursday, December 18, 2014

Review of The App Generation


By giving us an array of tools and platforms to connect to others, apps have transformed what it means to reach out and communicate with someone. Just how have our deeply rooted connections to others been affected by the unprecedented connectivity afforded by new technologies? Howard Gardner and Katie Davis, co-authors of The App Generation: How Today's Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World, definitely don't hold anything back as they examine the changes in behavior from pre-digital youths to those growing up in this ever increasing digital world. The authors argue that today's youth's sense of identity, intimate relationships to others, and expression of creativity and imagination are all being reconfigured significantly due to the growing digital world and that these changes can be found through our daily conversations.

In every instance of daily life, because of the constantly evolving forms of communication and the habitual use of technology in society, we often forget the importance and mind-blowing functions of these technologies that allow us communicate with others across the globe in mere seconds. These forms of communication devices such as Desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets "...do more than allow us to contact any and all individuals around the globe... They are intensively personal and invite activity on the part of the user." While a decade ago we were able to 'simply' send a quick text or make a quick call with our cell phones, today, we can send and receive almost anything in a variety of formats.

With this, they move into the infinite world of smartphone apps. For better understanding and reference, the term 'app' will be used throughout to include apps categorized as communication media. Apps have changed the way we receive and share information, and it has also changed the way we communicate with others. While some apps may find themselves enabling the user to communicate in ways that are more practical or efficient, other apps can cause users to become dependent on them in order to avoid the struggles of face-to-face communication. The app world can change the way we think and even the way we carry ourselves throughout the day, but more
importantly our identity, intimacy with others, and imagination can all be affected if we develop dependencies with these apps. When it comes to identity, apps can push the user to become an avatar of someone else, or they can allow the user to develop their identity more thoughtfully. In terms of intimacy, apps can cause superficial ties, discourage face-to-face interactions, or, on another note, they can expose the user to a much wider world, provided useful ways of relating to others and putting the user in charge of apps instead of the other way around. Finally, with respect to imagination, apps can make the user lazy, discouraged from developing new skills, and limit their thoughts to a mere tweet. Ramesh Srinivasan, an Associate Professor in Information Studies at UCLA, states in his book Perspective: Bridges Between Cultural and Digital Worlds in Revolutionary Egypt that even "...problems of slacktivism, where people protest online or sign petitions  but rarely physically mobilize" (2) are more prevalent in today's society than ever before. Even when it comes to being active in the community, instead of getting out of their homes and physically doing something for the community, youths and adults alike stay in front of their computers or phones and remain active in the community through slacking. If used in the right way, however, these apps can be great tools for simulating creativity and enabling healthy social ties.

Interestingly, Howard and Katie compare the array of apps that appear on the daily digital-device users' smartphones to a fingerprint of sorts, but instead of being a physical representation, "...it's the combination of interests, habits, and social connections that identify that person." But just how are the youth's identities shaped and expressed through the apps they utilize? Through extensive interviews with veteran educators, the authors are able to dig deeper into how digital identities are formed. The extraordinary variety of digital media technologies, whether they be social networking sites or instant messaging platforms, has given a surplus of tools for youths to express their identities with the digital world. The "app" thus becomes the median through which developers can create environments for users to express themselves and interact with other users. the saying, "a picture says a thousand words," has great meaning here if we were to examine the application Tumblr, a social networking site that allows the user to create a profile through which he or she shares their favorite pictures found on the web or at home. This allows others to view a perceived identity of another user
and creates a non-threatening, social online environment. Another aspect of apps that is greatly affecting the self-esteem of youths today is the new "fad" of photo-editing apps. They allow the user to completely change their appearance for what they appear to be a better or more socially-desirable representation of themselves. This sort of identity management is unhealthy and causes low self-esteem among young adults, a big issue that is arising from online communications. As the authors note, "On Facebook, people are more concerned with making it look like they're living rather than actually living." Users on social media site create "socially acceptable" identities of themselves in order to hide their real personalities and traits from others. As one fifteen year-old subject in the authors findings states, "You wouldn't get my whole life story by looking at my Facebook profile." In certain cases, however, identity can become something unwanted for a youth or adult. Tarleton Gillespie, an Associate Professor in the COmmunications department at Cornell, states in his book The Relevance of Algorithms that "information systems produce 'shadow bodies' by emphasizing some aspects of their subjects and overlooking others. Shadow bodies persist and proliferate through information systems... and can be either politically problematic or politically productive" (3). In certain circumstances, those who create separate identities online will be releasing these 'shadow bodies' that may represent them in a light unwanted. In general, the App Generation are more externally oriented than that of pre-digital youth. Instead of portraying themselves as who they really are and having a healthy self-esteem, youths are finding it easier to polish their identities online. On one side, both authors examine the view of the user and his or her identity online, but when it comes to viewing others' identities, self-esteem can take another blow. When others appear to have their identities all mapped out and polished, users begin to feel inferior and develop an unhealthy need for belonging. The "app" helps examine how changes explored in youth's identities such as being increasingly externalized and creating a 'packaged self' are products of this digital age.

Next, the book jumps into intimacy and how the quality of our relationships in this app era depends on whether we use our apps to bypass discomforts of relating to others, or as risky entry points to the forging of sustained meaningful interactions. The data on teens’ text messaging habits suggest that teens "...engage in frequent, on-the-run communication." With the current wide spread use of app-filled smartphones, the range of operations that teens can perform on the go has extended far beyond phone calls and texts. But what are youths saying through their apps and to whom? As it turns out, a considerable portion of the youth's digital communication is dedicated to making on-the-fly arrangements to meet up with their friends in person. This sort of planning is called microcoordination. Not all digital communications, however, serve a logistical purpose. Many function as virtual “taps on the shoulder” in order to maintain a sense of connection among friends, while others allow family members to make plans and coordinate their schedules more fluidly. What becomes less clear is whether this change in how relationships are conducted has translated into a change in the quality of these relationships. Are our relationships more or less authentic, supportive, and fulfilling? Are our social networks larger or smaller than pre-digital youth? In a study mentioned by Gardner and Davis, researchers were interested in whether the number of close interpersonal relationships had grown or shrunk over the last 20 years. What they found was that "the average person had lost one close friend as core discussion networks shifted to more family oriented." Additionally, Jan A.G.M. Van Dijk, a Professor of Communication and Sociology at the University of Twente, explains that "high internet use impoverishes social interaction as rich face-to-face interactions are replaced by poor, shallow, deceiving and transient online interactions" (1). The issue with youth and their intimate relationships with others can be hugely affected by how much time they spend on online interactions. The connection between social isolation and social media is not obvious though. One explanation examines the day-to-day use of social media such as Facebook. It states that social media makes us
feel lonely because it creates the impression that others are having more fun than we are. The other explanation dives into how being inclined to writing shorter texts deters close relationships from communicating complex feelings. One may deliberately avoid deep communication through text because of fears such as the information becoming public or the other person not fully listening. Along with growing isolation, there has been a down trend toward decreasing trust in others. The dramatic downturn in trust has important implications for intimacy and social isolation, and because of growing public media, people are afraid to make personal information public. Another aspect of apps that affects intimacy is online speech. Online speech may have a deteriorating effect on the way people relate to one another. " Users of digital communication find themselves more likely to use racist or sexist language online rather than face-to-face." People create a separate identity online and lose their own. So when it comes down to apps and intimacy, app-dependent youths can threaten chances of deep relationships. Only those young people able to resist this trap of dependency are likely to form a meaningful identity and forge intimate relationships with one another. 

In order to identify the full extent of the effects of apps on youths today, the authors dive into the changes that occur in the youth's  imagination. Of course when we think of imagination and apps, we think of artistic enabling apps such as Instagram, iMovie, Garage Band, and others. These digital apps can serve a great purpose for youths by creating new avenue for them to explore their creativity. However, many youths move away from this avenue and find it hard to get past the app mentality, leading to an unwillingness to stretch beyond the functionality of the software. While imagination is a difficult concept to measure, the authors stumbled on research that would do just that. The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking "...is the most widely used creativity test that measures creative potential, including intellectual curiosity, open-mindedness, verbal expressiveness, and originality." In a recent study done by researchers, Howard and Katie found that there was a decline in scores across all areas in more recent years, especially in the ability to elaborate on ideas and engage in detailed and reflective thinking. When the authors spoke to several teachers, the teachers noted that "today's youth have more difficulty in coming up with their own ideas; they're far more comfortable engaging with existing ones... They go to their laptop first for answers." The youth today are being overwhelmed by the continual releasing of new technologies and apps that they find it convenient to use this increase in available information to get by instead of challenge themselves to come up with new material.

In closing, while the arguments that Gardner and Davis shared seem to be concerning, they mention that their investigations give reason to be optimistic about the creative, intimate, and "identity enforcing" potentials of apps and other forms of digital media. For instance, they note that the prevalence of apps everywhere allows a lot of teens to be more creative and more intimate than they would normally so.

"As we saw in our considerations of identity, [imagination,] and intimacy, the digital media do not fully determine how young people think and act. In each case, one can describe scenarios in which  the App Generation lapses into a comfortable state of app dependence, as well as the happier scenario in which apps enable youth to have a deeper and more rounded sense of self as well as more fully developed intimate relations with others."

While digital media cannot completely determine how the youth think and act, it certainly becomes clear that the increasing integration of apps into our daily lives can have negative effects on our youth.

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