The modern community has become obsessed with the use of cellphones. The connectivity offered by the devices has grown to define the lives of people, especially the younger generations. The tools adopted in phone technology has made the device complete in taking over all human to human interactions. The people using the phones can access social media, post pictures, tell their opinions and get validation through the acquired audience. In the article The IRL Fetish by Nathan Jurgenson, the author analyzes the extent in which concepts of online and offline have been linked together and the obsession of either being often logged in and the self-control of being logged out. On the other hand, Danah Boyd, through Impression Management in a Networked Setting looks into the different ways in which the younger generation uses media to create conflict, have validation and build personal brands. The articles are similar as they address the current obsession with social media; however, they differ in the aspect of being offline and self-management on the various platforms hence making the article by Boyd appear stronger.
Both the article by Boyd and Jurgenson explain the current obsession with technology. The authors look into the role played by mobile phones in people lives in different ways, thus creating a hold on people. According to Jurgenson, “Each moment is oversaturated with digital potential: Texts, status updates, photos, check-ins, tweets, and emails are just a few taps away or pushed directly to your buzzing and chirping pocket computer.” The modern community has become linked to the use of the phones in their daily lives as seen the contrary as impossible. As Boyd concurs in describing the life of a teen, “he has always treated Facebook like a resume using the site to position himself” (124). The obsession with social media and the image presented is the leading reason for the constant use of different sites. The authors agree that modern society has been able to use the phones for aspects deeply related to their daily lives, thus making it impossible to stop.
Even so, the authors differ on the reasons for people wishing to be offline. In the article by Jurgenson, the author illustrates a new trend in the expression of the power to be offline by most phone users. As the author explains, “People boast about their self-control over not checking their device, and the table usually reaches a self-congratulatory consensus that we should all just keep it in our pants.” The article captures the extensive ways in which people are creating the aspect of being able to stay away from the use of phones as a major achievement. On the contrary, Boyd looks at the different ways in which teens are trying to manipulate the social media platforms to their advantage. In the case of Matthew presented by Boyd, the author says that the teen has struggled to make sure all contents of his social media is a better representation of the self (124). As the former looks into the different obsession with being offline, the latter analysis the manipulation of social media to one’s advantage in terms of career.
In the same way, the authors differ in the representation of self and self-management on social media and use of phones. Boyd explains that “teens are struggling to make sense of who they are and how they fit into society as an environment in which contexts are networked and collapsed, audiences are invisible, and anything they say or do can easily be taken out of context” (127). Teens have been using social media to create a persona of how they would like to be viewed in the community. The author explains that teens are using social media as a platform to encourage better self-management. On the other hand, the aspect of self-management is expressed in terms of being online or offline by Jurgenson. The control aspect of humans is defined largely by the ability of a person to be online or logged off.
In the analysis, Boyd’s article seems superior as it captures the concept of human control over technical aspects of control. In the article by Jurgenson, the author focusses on the addictive power of technology that the majority of humans lack. As explained in the article, “Fueled by such insights into our lost “reality,” we’ve been told to resist technological intrusions and aspire to consume less information” (Jurgenson). The article captures the extensive way in which people are defined by technology and for or against the concept of online. On the other hand, the article by Boyd seems powerful in the expression of the power of humans over technology. The characters in the article by Boyd are expressed as having control in that they choose what to post and impact of their image.
The articles above are similar in the expression of the extensive nature of cellphone use in modern society but differ on the concepts of being offline and self-management of personal accounts. Boyd captures the excruciating power of self-management that has been impacting on humans and currently represented on the use of social media. Both articles capture the use of technology and various ways in which people try to avoid or engage in social media and time management on different platforms. The modern society has been engaged extensively on social media and other applications on phones. However, the advantages of the use of social media cannot be underestimated as it has led to a portrait of humans that would not be understood in a society where aspects of offline were established. Furthermore, the idea of being offline is a social construct that people are obsessed with modern society.