Plug it in, Plugging in.

I have many comments on Steve Johnson's Don't Fear the Digital. I love the part where he states how technology is absolutely not diminishing kids' face-to-face social skills. So many of my friends, on a personal level, use AOL's Instant Messaging. I don't know one of my friends that refuses to use it and I know many kids of the younger generation who do the same. This, for example, is an immediate way to converse with someone. Even though it is not verbal, there is probably more conversing going on through AIM than if the phone or the face-to-face meeting took place. Teenagers and even us college kids are going to socialize. There is definitely no doubt in that...I'm sure you ALL agree! Clearly Johnson is correct in saying teenagers are not using technology to substitute for real-world socialization, "they're using technology to augment it" (56).

Kids are in fact using the screen as a new tool which is fun for them, as stated before. With the world at their fingertips, they can explore, share, and shape their world. With all the creativtiy that goes into kids' MySpaces, blogs, webpages, etc. how can one say that their being dumbed down. Williams is absolutely correct in stating that their minds are being sharpened.