Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other

On a site called PostSecret, people send in handwritten postcards confessing something, and these post card confessions are then put online. Turkle questions how many are fictional and if it matters—and if the consolation and acceptance one might feel posting on there is genuine or not. Online confessions are similar to robot companions in that “each takes as its premise the notion that you can deal with feelings without dealing directly with a person” (231).

Sherryl makes online confessions, but it doesn’t cause her to make amends: “She goes online to feel better, not to make things right” (233).

Confessing online also increases the number of people from whom one expects a nurturing response afterward, but it can open one up to cruelty and overall a “coarsening” of responses from readers. Turkle talks to Jonas, who projects his frustration for distancing himself from his son onto another poster. Turkle claims that while this happens in real life, it is “endemic” on the internet.

She speaks with Molly and points out that while Molly feels she’s found a community online, it lacks what a real-life community has, good and bad. A real-life community also would not give Molly the ability to log off when she gets negative feedback.