Bringing Family Apart Analysis

Words: 1472
Pages: 6

Technology: Bringing Family Apart Neal Gabler argues in his essay, “The social networks,” that the television or technology in general, is affecting relationships with family and friends in a negative way. Gabler starts his essay with introducing the fact that in television shows, mostly seen in sitcoms, is that family and friends are gathered together in a place and having the time of their lives. He talked about how the basic unit of television is not about the individual, but it is about the congregation. He then lists various television sitcoms such as “Sex and the City,” “Desperate House Wives,” and “How I Met Your Mother” to name a few. Gabler then mentions that people today can only find that perfect family or the family that one desire, …show more content…
People can now record their favorite television shows and watch it at their convenience. One can now watch Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube on their very own TV. Most families today own several televisions. Instead of having one that is only placed in the living room that everyone in the family can share, one can now find it in the kitchen and in every room in the house. “This increased number of television sets throughout the household has created the opportunity for time traditionally spent on interactive family activities to be replaced with time spent in a more passive family environment” (“Television”). Gabler mentioned in his essay that “watching television is not exactly a communal activity [anymore, but rather, an individual activity].” Having multiple TV will affect interaction within the family because the children and parents would watch in their own room instead of the living room. He also mentioned that people “often use it to fill a communal void [and that] instead of bringing comfort, it seems only to remind [people] of [their] alienation.” That is why family should spend more time watching together as a family in one area of the house or just simply gather in the living room and spend some quality time with one another. Gabler talked about how television shows are not about the individual, but about the group of people. These type of shows present to its …show more content…
Rose mentioned in his essay that an app called Yak enabled him to communicate with his son as he does not see him all the time. Technology has made people that are far away closer to their loved ones and allowed people to make their relationship stronger by keeping in contact with old friends and colleagues (Walker). It gave students an opportunity to take online classes when they cannot be in an actual classroom. Rose also mentioned that he was able to read about a news that happened in China where an abducted child was found with the help of microblogs. This shows that technology is not all about bringing people apart but in some ways, it brings them