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Meghan E. Stanley
Professor Melissa Sipin
English 110C
21 October 2014
Technology And The Human Interaction
In todays society people rely on technology for everything. Technology distracts
everybody from having face-to-face interaction with others around them. The video,
Look up, is successful in persuading society to put down their phones and live a life
full of face-to-face interactions, because it shows that technology prevents interactions
that could affect individuals futures as a whole.
The rhetorical situations, logos, ethos, and pathos, enable the argument of Look
Up to be successful. The overall message of the video is supported by the audiences
common sense about the decline of direct confrontation. Look Up highlights the
importance of awareness about socialization, as a whole, becoming extinct because of the
heavy rely on devices. Individuals are constantly searching for answers on their devices,
when in fact; they should be seeking person-to-person communication from someone
who could play a very important role in their lives. The video is credible due to the fact
that the composer, Gary Turk, has a degree in liberal arts. He is a writer, director, and
spoken word performer and this allows the audience to be more inclined in believing
what he has to say. Another factor that validates the video is the popularity of it. Look
Up has over forty seven million views, gaining it worldwide coverage. The popularity of
this video increases a chance for change because so many people have been exposed to

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the videos message. The emotional sensations the audience develops from this video are
fear of the future and uncertainty as they question whether or not its too late for them to
put down their devices. These feelings support the videos argument by appealing to the
audiences feelings. Look Up concerns the audience about how socialization will be
characterized in the future. The audience is also overwhelmed with the thought of already
missing out on opportunities they may have been presented with if they were not so busy
looking down.
The context and culture of Look Up is founded in the articles Facebook Use
Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults, Facebook Depression,
Social Networkings Good and Bad Impact on Kids and The Young and the Digital,
as well as the book, Internet in Everyday Life, and shows how successful the videos
argument truly is. The first article states, On the surface, Facebook provides an
invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection. Rather than
enhancing well-being, however, these findings suggest that Facebook may undermine it
(Kross). This evidence supports Turks comment, I have four hundred twenty two
friends, yet I am lonely. I speak to them everyday, yet none of them really know me.
This highlights the truth that frequent, indirect communication with people is not enough
to satisfy a human beings needs for intellectual connection with another person. The
second article says, Social media complicates interpersonal relationships in that it can
seduce the user into thinking that online and in-person communication are the same
(Greenberg, Psychology Today). This validates the argument present in Turks statement,
All this technology we have its just an illusion community, companionship; a sense of

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inclusion. It highlights the fact that people are so oblivious to the outside world and how
direct and indirect communication is extremely different. The third article says,
Nobody can deny that Facebook has altered the landscape of social interaction,
particularly among young people, we are just now starting to see solid psychological
research demonstrating the negative aspects (Rosen, Social Networkings). This
comment goes hand in hand with Turks remark, When no one wants to talk for the fear
of looking insane In the fourth article the author states, Its easy to forget but
Watkins reminds us that this generation is the first to have grown up with ready access
to broadband Internet at home. The young and the digital rushed home from school,
logged onto their computers, and through instant messaging and later text messaging
(Watkins, Young and Digital). This is emphasizes by Turk saying, Were surrounded by
children who since they were born have watched us act like robots and think its the
norm. Our generation was born into a world where technology surrounded us. Lastly, in
the book, Internet in Everyday Life, the author states, ...time online is largely an asocial
activity that competes with, rather than complements, face-to-face social time
(Wellman, Barry, Internet in Everyday Life) This statement supports Turks argument
when he says, You dont need to stare at your menu or at your contact list, just talk to
one another, learn to co-exist. This highlights the fact that even though people think they
are not alone, just by carrying on a conversation with someone, they are still just by
themselves. Individuals need to learn to talk to one another in person without the barrier
of a computer or cell phone screen.

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The video, Look Up is successful because it shows our society the reality of our
lack of ability to interact with one another. Our society is unable to notice the downfall of
socialization, because everyone is looking down and not up which would allow people to
notice the little amount of face-to-face interactions that happen. This is shown
everywhere in society, as someone is walking to class they are bound to pass someone
looking down at their phone. Through the video it causes people to really think about all
of the opportunities lost by looking down instead of up.
Society misses opportunities as everyone walks with their heads down, drawn into
the comfort of our phones. Imagining life with out technology is hard for anyone in this
generation. This video opens peoples eyes to see how technology is killing off face-toface interactions. It causes society to question whether childrens play dates will
somehow transition into senseless connecting through Face Time.

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Works Cited
Wellman, Barry, and Caroline A. Haythornthwaite. "A Time Diary." Preface. The
Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA, USA: Blackwell Pub., 2002. N. pag.
Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
Kross, Ethan, Philippe Verduyn, Emre Demiralp, Jiyoung Park, David S. Lee,
Natalie Lin, Holly Shablack, John Joaides, and Oscar Ybarra. "Facebook Use
Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults." PLOS ONE:. N.p.,
14 Aug. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%252F10.1371%252Fjournal.pone.0
069841>.
Greenberg, Tamara M. "Facebook Depression." Psychology Today: Health, Help,
Happiness + Find a Therapist. Tamara McClintock Greenberg, 26 Aug. 2013.
Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/21st-centuryaging/201308/facebook-depression>.
Powers, Elia. "The Young & The Digital." JMLE. Craig Watkins, 2011. Web. 20
Oct. 2014.
Rosen, Larry D. "Social Networking's Good and Bad Impacts on Kids."
Http://www.apa.org. American Psychological Association, 6 Aug. 2011. Web. 18
Oct. 2014. <http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx>.