The National Broadband Network (NBN) – the Australian government’s project to provide faster, more reliable and more affordable phone and internet coverage nation-wide, began in 2009. Interestingly, it is marketed as being “essential for Australia’s transition to a digital future” and “designed to enable lifestyle enhancement.” There is an assumption that the internet is becoming more and more of an ‘essential’ part of our lives, and thus, every home needs to become ‘networked’.
As the home becomes more networked, there is concern about how it will affect our lives. In her TED talk, ‘Connected, but alone?’, Sherry Turkle (2012, 2:17) argues that our online devices “change who we are.” Instead of embracing the richness and messiness of human relationships, she argues “we clean them up with technology … sacrific[ing] conversation for mere connection” (Turkle, 2012, 7:05). While Turkle provides some very interesting observations and analysis, I don’t completely agree.
I think her diagnosis is extreme.
This weekend I spent a lovely afternoon chatting on the phone with my family. A key part of that conversation was asking my parents and three sisters about their use of the internet and their opinions about its future. I believe the internet has not affected my family’s ability to properly communicate, but it ensures we keep in touch, especially when travelling. When I was studying in Canada, Skype, Viber, Snapchat and Facebook were invaluable, allowing me to still feel included in my family’s day to day activities.
My family uses an ‘ADSL with WiFi’ plan – the NBN rollout hasn’t started in their area. While Mum, Alicia (20), Caitlin (16) and Aimee (14) all use the internet for social media, especially Facebook, Snapchat and KIK, Dad “doesn’t like social media.” He only really uses the internet for work and the occasional email if he is unable to call someone. My whole family use the home internet for research, to read news articles and to find music on Youtube.
No-one feels that the internet is having an adverse effect on household dynamics and the interaction between family members. Instead, Aimee sees it as being beneficial for household social interactions. “It gives you things to talk about, like last night I was showing Felix and Caitlin funny Youtube videos.”
Mum and Alicia also feel that social media helps to reinforce connections with friends and extended family whom you would otherwise only speak to once or twice a year. “It provides great sources for conversation when you do get to see them in person – you can ask them about their trip, or whatever, and it doesn’t feel like you are invading their privacy to do that because they chose to post that information online” (Alicia).
Rather than replacing conversation with ‘mere connection’, in my family, it seems the internet can actually aid it.
Internet – aiding conversation with the family.
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network report Broadbanding Brunswick, which analyses the implementation of the NBN in Brunswick, found that “people are overwhelmingly satisfied with their [internet] speed regardless of the type of home broadband” (Nansen et al, 2012, 21).
For a long time I have wondered what the NBN’s faster internet would actually achieve (besides providing a great source of procrastination through the ability to download more shows and movies). I find current broadband speeds perfectly adequate for my needs, and so does my family. They don’t feel the NBN will have any major effect on their lifestyles, and couldn’t foresee any key differences in the way home internet would be used in the future.
Aimee and Caitlin believe Internet usage will remain the same (except maybe you could press a button and it could immediately deliver food), unless someone creates something “better than the Internet”. Aimee indicated that “if it’s faster maybe people could do their work faster. But then they might be on their phones even more and won’t talk to anyone.”
Dad made the point that when it comes to the NBN’s promises, people don’t actually need faster internet in the home, it just becomes a matter of “the more you give, the more people want – whatever you provide becomes the expected base level.” However, he does see a need for faster, more reliable, internet in areas such as healthcare, giving the example of a hospital patient in the Outback without access to a specialist. Faster internet would allow for immediate transfer of high resolution images, and the patient may be able to have a real-time consultation with a panel of specialists in major cities.
Alicia agreed with Dad about the importance of fast, reliable internet for equity of access to healthcare, indicating that in her pharmacy degree they were learning about using online models of proteins to develop new drugs – “Without the internet you wouldn’t be able to see all the intricacies the model shows.”
Mum had a slightly different take on the future of the internet, focussing more on her concern that pushes for more education to take place online don’t take into account geographic/demographic factors which may limit access to computer/internet technology. She also feels we need to consider the security of our information and question how much information we willing hand over to unknown sources, because once it’s “out there,” you can’t really get that information back.
The NBN rollout continues – and while this occurs I expect there will be a lot more discourse and fearmongering on how the networked home will affect our lives. As Neil Levy (2012) argues, “fears concerning new technologies are a natural response to the unfamiliar.” However, while many may be inclined to agree with Sherry Turkle’s dire predictions, it seems to me that things probably won’t change too much. Faster internet will likely be very beneficial for areas like healthcare, and as for those of us sitting at home, bring on Games of Thrones Season 5.
References:
Herrick, C (2011) ‘NBN 101: How the NBN can change Australian healthcare’, Computerworld, 23 June,
Levy, Neil (2012) ‘Your brain on the internet: a response to Susan Greenfield’ The Conversation, 8 August, <http://theconversation.com/your-brain-on-the-internet-a-response-to-susan-greenfield-8694> accessed 23 August 2014.
Nansen, B., Arnold, M., Wilken, R. and Gibbs, M. 2012, Broadbanding Brunswick – High-speed Broadband and Household Media Ecologies: A Report on Household Take-up and Adoption of the National Broadband Network in a First Release Site,Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, Sydney.
Turkle, S (2012) ‘Connected, but alone?’, Talk Transcript – TED.com, <https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together/transcript>
Watching the World 