Monday, May 9, 2011

Is Digital Media Bad for Us?

A world without technology nows seems like an oxymoron. A world without technology is like living in a world with no rain. To start, I think digital media is an imperative aspect and asset to the current society we live in. Before attending University of North Carolina School of the Arts, my mother previously worked for the Los Angeles Times. During the duration of the time she was employed with the newspaper company, newspaper sales began to heavily decline. This was due to the rapid increase of distributed information that was being provided for on the internet. The Los Angeles Times distribution ratings declined from 15% to 8.7% last year. Though many people fear that the internet would make people apathetic so that they would be too glued to their electronic screens to get up and take to the streets, the internet has become a primary news source. Democracy Now!, an "indie" web news source is a great site to find out about what is really going on around the world. The use of blogs sites gives provides a place for people to discuss the issues of the world. 


Many age groups use blogs as a means of communicating reactions to political and personal issues. This usage is sometimes taken advantage. Many kids find themselves in dangerous positions where because of online predators. In addition, the number of people engaged in Facebook phenomena is amazing. Become addicted to the internet is a possiblity, but that does not mean that the internet is "bad." It is still a fast way to connect people around the world and communication information faster than ever expected.  

Google is one of the fastest and most used search engines in the world. When you type in key words in Googles search engines it picks sites, according to other searches, that Google thinks would be most helpful to finding the information you are seeking. In Nicholas Carr's article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" studies suggests that the internet is changing the way we see and think. Our generation is constantly searching for efficient and immediate information. The internet is succeeding at this. Though the depth of the information is limited, the internet is succeeding at providing fast and useful information to society. 

Although the internet is providing fast information and though I don't necessarily believe that digital media is bad for us, I do think it is important to provide a balance between spending too much time browsing on the internet and also having real-life socializing. I wrote a paper for Joe Mills Critical Perspectives class where this issue was discussed.The constant use of cell phones and the Internet are posing new challenges to the focusing and learning abilities of students. Instead of using the Internet for study and academic purposes, Facebook has become the number one site visited on the web (Google AdPlanner Compiled Data: “The 1000 Most-Visited Sites on the Web). Needless to say, it has become an addiction. There are more than 500 million active users registered on Facebook. 50% of Facebook users log on to Facebook in any given day. People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. (Facebook Press).Similarly to the outrageous statistics of Facebook, 47% of US teens say their social life would end or be worsened without their cell phone. Nearly 6 in 10 teens (57%) credit their mobile device with improving their lives (Statistics from CTIA: International Association for Wireless Telecommunications Industry, Dedicated to the Expanding of the Wireless Frontier). Responding to a new text message or posting a new status on Facebook has become a priority for many students. With more than 1 billion text messages sent each day, studies have shown that text messaging is replacing talking.  With these statistics, I feel it important to monitor the use of technology. Though it can be helpful in relating useful information, it can also be a burden that is overused. 

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