I like to stay very connected to my family and friends. Because these two groups of people are separated by many states, when I am with one I am usually texting the other. But I don't solely rely on my phone as a source of communication. I also use it for:
~Checking the Time
~The Calendar Setting
~Viewing/ Taking pictures
~Internet Capabilities
That is why when I went to Guatemala this summer I found the separation from my phone to be difficult at first. When I arrived in Guatemala it was a lot colder than I expected and I wanted to tell my mom and friends everything that I was seeing. For the first day or two it was weird to be cut off from communicating with the people that are an everyday part of my life. One advantage was that at home I use my phone as a way of getting together with people. I will usually send a text message seeing what they are doing and ask if they would like to hang out later. In Guatemala, we were constantly surrounded by our close knit Global Leadership Group. Instead of having access to the people we usually discuss our woes, excitements, and frustrations to, the members of my group were forced to share their opinions with one another. It was nice to not have the phone as a distraction from getting to know the other students, as well as the locals and children. This also forced us to interact with local members of the community because when we were unaware of the time we would be forced to ask a stranger. America is run on technology, yet, technology can sometimes hinder social capital. When I am in home or at UNCSA I believe my cell phone benefits my social capital because it keeps me informed. But when in a foreign country cell phones can become hazardous to social capital.
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This lab is really cool! You are so lucky that your got such an opportunity. I can definitely relate to not having a phone. I can see how your argument shows that having a cell phone increases social capital, however, I wonder what it would be like if you tried this in a place where you could use your cell phone. If you happen to travel to another place in the states with your group, would you have spent as much time with those students like the students in Guatemala? This lab clearly presents two different ideas to the argument, which is really interesting and makes me really think if cell phones truly hinder out social capital.
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing when I was in Uganda for a month. This is great! I felt the same way that you did.
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