Doyle, K. O. (2008). Introduction: “Thinking differently” about the new media. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(1), 3-7. Retrieved June 17, 2010, from Sage Publications Online.
Hundley, H. L., Shyles, L. (2010). US teenagers’ perceptions and awareness of digital technology: A focus group approach. New Media & Society, 12(3), 417-433. Retrieved June 17, 2010, from Sage Publications Online.
Replacing Humanity
“Laura Gurak and Smiljana Antonijevic have examined identity formation and social connection in Web logs, or blogs. Successors to the old-time personal diary and antecedents of the wondrously popular MySpace and YouTube sites, blogs are enormously popular sources of information, entertainment, advice, and persuasion. Gurak shows how blogs blur borders, for example, between the public and the private self; in particular, she raises interesting questions about why more and more people choose to share their private thoughts and feelings with total strangers” (Doyle, 2008, p. 4). This line of inquiry is directly at the heart of my dilemma with new media extraversion, which permits a torrent of perpetual personal disclosure that allows individuals to create a world where their thoughts and opinions have merit. New Media Take-Over
The Internet offers a portal for individuals to speak freely and anonymously. This capability has transgressed the semblance of identity construction and interpersonal interaction into a realm of indecipherable consequence. New media technology has become a ubiquitous force driving the functionality of our daily existence, which we no longer have the competency to control. A normal human being, living and working in a civilized society such as ours, could not adequately functions without the use of current interactive technologies; they would be rendered communicatively void and therefore irrelevant.
Introverted Skepticism
My skeptically introverted perception of new media technology has continued to snowball as I feel that I am witnessing the proliferation of public depravity. Doyle (2008) briefly reviews some of the unfavorable effects brought about through the expansions of new media: “Isolation-connection and polarization-integration; cybersex addiction; [over]sharing the self; terrorism; and—depending on how you look at it—anthropocene” (pp. 6-7). However, since my viewpoint in the vast minority, I can’t help but to question its interpretative accuracy. Perhaps there is a happy-medium with which humanity and technology can independently co-exist.
A Glimmer of Hope
According to Kraut et al. (2002), “Having more social resources amplifies the benefits which people get through utilization of the Internet. Among extraverts, using of the Internet was associated with more family communication, increases in community involvement and self-esteem and declines in loneliness, negative affect, and time pressure” (p. 67). The benefits of an adult using the Internet versus a teenage, potentially offer a glimmer of hope for the future of new media technology in that; “adult Internet users were more likely to increase their face-to-face interactions locally, as well as their geographic proximity to distant relatives and friends” (p. 67).
Back to My Reality
Unfortunately this glimmer of hope was only able to last for a very short time because I was soon brought back to my pessimistically introverted mind-set as I continued to research. According to Hundley and Shyles (2010), “In terms of socializing and staying connected with peers with digital devices, particularly social network sites, a large ‘friends’ list is a pride object with many teenager, who equate popularity and perceptions of likeability with the number of people of their ‘friends’ list” (p.428). The unique capability that has been bestowed upon us as human beings has—without difficulty—been devalued as our most powerful medium of communication. Taking its place; our new social icon…digitally interactive technological machinery!
No comments:
Post a Comment