Thesis 1: The amount of power a government possesses over its people directly contributes to the lack of understanding and overall cooperation between both groups.
Thesis 2: Technology has made communicating at a distance easier while making face to face communication more awkward.
The main ideas in both of your thesis statements are clearly stated. In Thesis 1, it is apparent that your essay will be specifically about, the effect of the government’s power on people and the government itself. Although, in the second part, it is quite odd to say that there is not any understanding but there is also cooperation. It is an interesting and attention grabbing thesis. In Thesis 2, it is very straight forward. You can easily expect what your essay will be about. Focusing on a specific form of technological communication could make your thesis more specific, even though it already hits the point.
Lawrence,
Both of your topics are quite interesting, but your second is (as of now, at least) the most specific. For this second one, you would still need to narrow it a bit, to be most effective, I think. In other words, pick an area of focus, such as private communication, business, recreation (gaming) etc. I think the second could be a very cool essay, but if you want to do the first one, then you’d have to narrow it quite a bit more, as to who, exactly in the government you’re talking about and the area of focus (the specific victim).