Interpersonal Relations vs. Social Networking

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”
(Quote Garden, 2007 Oct 14) Albert Einstein couldn’t have put it more in context for the modern day; technology has superseded humanity especially when it comes to social networking as depicted in an editorial cartoon by Daryl Cagle. In this cartoon, there are two sections: the top one illustrates the cave man era where everyone gathered around a fire to converse for hours, whereas the bottom box shows the modern era where everyone is in the same circle but faced outward, all with their technology of choice in hand. In the modern era, the internet has allowed our interpersonal communication to dissolve into a mere tweet or text. Technological advancements allowed for the devolution of socialization, even to the extent that people do not have to make eye contact while conversing next to one another. Cagle uses pathos in the cartoon to show the isolation. This is illustrated by the bottom panel by the position of the people. The author also uses strong symbols with in the cartoon to show how a fire can directly parallel an interpersonal relationship.

The most prominent aspect of the cartoon is the fire pit directly in the center of both panels. This symbol, in the top panel aspect of the cartoon, the fire unites the people as they are all gathered around it and conversing; the bottom panel shows that the group has allowed the fire to die because they aren’t even looking at it, or even tending to it. Letting the fire die shows that the group is no longer interested in face to face interaction; they are also not drawn together as they were in the top panel of the cartoon. All could amount to the point that isolationism draws them apart, due to social networking.

Based on the position of the people, as shown in the bottom panel, illustrates isolation through the appeal to pathos. However, this cartoon shows isolation in purely an auditory sense, or void of physical or face to face interaction. In the modern era, people don’t think that anything is abnormal when one may comment on their friends status, while they make even been right next to one another. Cagle outlines in the cartoon that it is hard to fathom that people with their backs turned, like in the bottom panel, can still have a conversation with out looking at one another all due to their technology. While this separation is easily combated with the fact that all persons can be in physical isolation and still communicate, the people who are communicating don’t find it awkward that their interpersonal relationship has completely been dismantled. It is said by many psychologists that most humans need the physical interaction to keep on living, and that technology usually can not fill that need. The need that technology can not fill will most commonly lead to a change in personal connections and more commonly, face to face conversations.

The new social networks are very well received and almost everyone seems to be using them, yet they are significantly changing personal conversations. Many can easily jump online and shoot a wall post or an email to catch up with a friend. Cagle suggests that there is no need to make eye contact or gestures to effectively communicate, as shown in the bottom panel, based on their position of facing outward. All of this effective communication doesn’t need to be done in person, but anywhere one can access the internet. With this new streamlining of communication, the need for an essential common ground to unite has become obsolete for groups of people.

Social networking has allowed most people to pull people away from the warm personal sense of communication and has isolated them as well as changed the normal way of personal conversation. In the modern era, people have allowed themselves to let go of human connection and even be addicted to the internet. This cartoon has perfectly emulated what is happening in society in a fun sense with the caveman.