Ethnography

In nowadays, we rely on technology for everything. We wouldn't leave the house without our mobile and we probably couldn't function properly without our social networking sites. Teenagers today have been surrounded by technology since the day they were born so I wanted to see what would happen if it was all taken away from us. I somehow convinced my four flatmates to take part in a study. We each placed our phones, laptops, iPods and other electrical items in the centre of the room; from this point on, we weren't allowed to touch them for a full hour.

The Results... This proved a lot more difficult than anticipated! Within the first 15 minutes, two of the participants had given in and reached for their phones to read a text. It was also interesting to see how others reacted when we didn't reply to their messages. Texting is supposed to be quick and easy so when we don't respond, people start to become impatient and send follow up messages along the lines of "why are you ignoring me?" or "text be back!" But it wasn't just texts which proved to be a problem. Usually, at this time in the evening we would be sitting in the living room either streaming shows on the internet or scrolling through Twitter. This study made me realise how much we take the internet for granted. If you have a question you simply just type it into Google and within seconds you have your answer. So when conversation moved on to how old Leonardo Dicaprio is, we were faced with a real problem! (He's 39 by the way).

This video makes me feel very sorry for Google!