Left to their own devices : how digital natives are reshaping the American dream / Julie M. Albright ; foreword by Thomas Dolby, musician, technology innovator, and author of The speed of sound.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Albright, Julie M., 1962- author.

Contributor:

Dolby, Thomas, writer of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media and youth--United States.

Mass media and youth.

Diffusion of innovations.

Digital media--Social aspects.

United States.

Digital media--Social aspects--United States.

Digital media.

Information technology--Social aspects--United States.

Information technology.

Information technology--Social aspects.

Diffusion of innovations--United States.

American Dream.

Physical Description:

368 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Amherst, New York : Prometheus Books, 2019.

Summary:

"A sociologist explores the many ways that digital natives' interaction with technology has changed their relationship with people, places, jobs, and other stabilizing structures and created a new way of life that is at odds with the American Dream of past generations. Digital natives are hacking the American Dream. Young people brought up with the Internet, smartphones, and social media are quickly rendering old habits, values, behaviors, and norms a distant memory--creating the greatest generation gap in history. In this eye-opening book, digital sociologist Julie M. Albright looks at the many ways in which younger people, facilitated by technology, are coming "untethered" from traditional aspirations and ideals, and asks: What are the effects of being disconnected from traditional, stabilizing social structures like churches, marriage, political parties, and long-term employment? What does it mean to be human when one's ties to people, places, jobs, and societal institutions are weakened or broken, displaced by digital hyper-connectivity? Albright sees both positives and negatives. On the one hand, mobile connectivity has given digital nomads the unprecedented opportunity to work or live anywhere. But, new threats to well-being are emerging, including increased isolation, anxiety, and loneliness, decreased physical exercise, ephemeral relationships, fragmented attention spans, and detachment from the calm of nature. In this time of rapid, global, technologically driven change, this book offers fresh insights into the unintended societal and psychological implications of lives exclusively lived in a digital world"-- Provided by publisher.

"A sociologist explores the many ways that digital natives' interaction with technology has changed their relationship with people, places, jobs, and other stabilizing structures and created a new way of life that is at odds with the American Dream of past generations"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

New York City, Mid-Morning. The Uptown 5 from Brooklyn p. 13

1 Silicon Valley: The Hacker Hotel p. 20

2 St. Barts, the Untethered Workforce, and "Microlives" p. 24

Triad of Technological Immersion p. 30

Chapter 1 Becoming Tethered: The American Dream p. 35

May 8, 1945. 10 Downing Annex, London p. 35

The Turning Point p. 41

New York, Cafe Zanzibar p. 41

Keeping Up p. 43

The Golden Age of the American Dream p. 45

The Wolves of Wall Street and the Fall of the American Dream p. 51

The Pull Factor of the American Dream p. 55

Chapter 2 Synchronization And Harmonization p. 61

Synchronization and Harmonization p. 68

Tne Six Emerging Values of the Untethered p. 73

1 Plug Life: The Desire for a Mediated World p. 73

2 Experiences versus Acquisitions p. 74

3 Transactors versus Owners p. 76

4 Don't Care How, I Want It Now (or How Veruca Salt of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Was Just ahead of Her Time) p. 78

5 Green Is Good p. 79

6 Customizable World p. 81

The End of Trust and the Emergence of the Dark Army p. 83

Chapter 3 The Untethered Adult p. 95

Greenwich Village, New York City p. 95

Untethered Relationships: "Because Choice" p. 105

The Internet as Other p. 106

Reshaping the American Dream p. 109

The Singularity Meets Her p. 115

Chapter 4 Growing Up Digital p. 121

Living in the Now p. 130

Digital Dating: Teenage Wasteland p. 133

You Are Valid p. 136

Externality and Chasing Likes p. 140

Unintentionally Exposed p. 143

Imaginary Friends p. 147

Chapter 5 Your Brain On Digital p. 151

January 14, 1967. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco p. 151

Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York p. 156

Recoding Our Operating Systems p. 159

The Sound of Silence p. 163

The No Latency Life p. 168

Blurring Map and Territory Online p. 172

The Virtual Mirror p. 173

The Empathy Gap p. 177

Tools 'R' Us? p. 179

Chapter 6 Untethered From Nature p. 183

"The McRib Is Back!" p. 183

America's Best Idea p. 193

The Fountain of Life p. 198

InstaNature, or the Mediated Sublime p. 203

Fake Nature p. 208

Reconnecting with Nature p. 211

Rebalancing Nature and Culture p. 217

Chapter 7 The Untethered Worker p. 223

The Platform Economy, Patchwork Careers, and the End of Retirement p. 227

The Untethered Workplace p. 238

The Rise of the Fake Workforce p. 241

The Untethered Economy p. 249

Chapter 8 Untethered From The Body p. 259

New York City, Upper East Side. The Rectory p. 259

Civilizing the Body p. 264

Body Language in a Disembodied World p. 271

Digital Impacts on Analog Bodies p. 279

High Tech/High Touch p. 282

Chapter 9 The Untethered World p. 291

Our Increasingly Untethered World p. 299

The Digital Panopticon p. 302

Powering the Untethered World p. 307

The Upsides of an Untethered World p. 309

1 Global Learning, Philanthropy, and Employment p. 309

2 Citizen Journalism p. 310

3 Global Citizenship p. 312.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Other Format:

Online version: Albright, Julie M., 1962- Left to their own devices.

ISBN:

9781633884441

1633884449

OCLC:

1060596627