Final Project

When we first started working on this project, we knew that we all disagreed with Putnam’s theory. Our proposal, or draft, was not much different than the final product. We made some tweaks and edited it as we went along, but overall, we stuck to the original plan. One thing that we did add during filming was the Dance Dance Revolution clips. Erin and I were filming at the Union and we saw these kids who were all hanging out playing DDR or watching. When we saw this, we immediately thought it was a perfect example of how our generation uses technology to interact. The first thing I thought when we were watching was that the kids who were playing,(and no offense to them) were kids who probably did not go to the bars and dance or during high school probably did not cut a rug on the dance floor. But to watch them there, they were busting moves that were really cool to watch and were able to do so because originally they were into technology and DDR combines both, so they were more then willing to bust some moves will playing. We figured that our generation might not go bowling or sit around the VA Hall, but we are still interacting with each other. We thought that it would be really cool to show a bowling alley and that yes, leagues still exist, but that our generation is also using technology to interact. We knew that there were groups of kids who get together on Friday and Saturday nights and play interactive games like World of Warcraft. Our goal from the start was to film these kids, who all happened to be really agreeable to being filmed. We had a much easier time getting them to agree to being filmed than we did the older people at the bowling alley, which Erin and I found really interesting since the people at the bowling alley had no chance of seeing the film or of anyone seeing them who would know them. The kids in the dorms though do run that risk, which I guess could almost show how much more willing our generation is to using technology. While we were at the bowling alley asking people if we could film them, we constantly heard, “this isn’t going to end up on YouTube is it?” The input that we got from bowlers and from kids was really good because they all seemed to agree with us. The kids were talking about how they play over breaks and how the game involves a lot of communication because not only do they have to work to defeat their “enemy” which is the other team, but they have to work with each other and stay on the same page to come up with strategy. Putnam claims that “from the point of view of social connectedness, however, the new organizations are sufficiently different…the only act of membership consists in writing a check” (52). I think that the kids that we filmed prove that wrong. Not only do they meet every weekend to play, they have friends who are in other countries that they SKYPE with in order to get everyone involved. In order to do that, they have to set “meeting times”, create a space for the meeting (even if it is only via internet connection), and they share their thoughts and opinions throughout the game, just like if they were together, at an actual face-to-face meeting. Putnam also claims that although the workplace should be a place for social interaction and to form connections with others, it is not “the salvation for our fraying society” (92). The bowlers that we interviewed worked together and each team in the league was work teams. They met each Wednesday night to socialize and bowl and had been doing so for years. That is evidence that the workplace does help foster social connections.