There has been a definitive change in how media is dispersed throughout society. The urge to constantly be connected into the digital world has become a modern-day necessity. As this generation of innovators continues to progress, the obsession with technology and different forms of media will only exponentially increase. The constant convergence of technology and digital media has made connecting and retaining information easily accessible, however, it has subsequently lead us to lack of authenticity and intimacy within our personal connections.
In his article Convergence Culture, Henry Jenkins discusses the new era of collision between old passive media and interactive new media. Whereas, within Rachel Lowry’s essay, Straddling Online
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Through convergence culture, producers and consumers are able to interact interdependently to transfer the production of media and information. The concept of convergence culture can be broken down into three smaller parts such as technological, cultural, and social. Technological convergence represents the advancement of old technological devices that evolve into updated versions that still acquire a similar concept to the old device. Whereas, cultural convergence refers to the total consumption and creation of media. It especially refers to how consumers understand and control the flow of media by recirculating and elucidating content. Along with, social convergence culture that references the simultaneous utilization of forms of media. The implementation of convergence culture allows consumers to initiate control across different platforms in order to become active participants in the transfer of information and media. Thereupon, resulting in individuals acquiring a level of jurisdiction on the way business is done, who is elected as a political leader, and how the younger generation is …show more content…
However, presently social media has been used as a means for individuals to present carefully cultivated images of themselves. Individuals consciously participate in the epidemic of distorting their identity by continuously posting images and content that glorify an unrealistic version of themselves. In Lowry’s article, she states “They would try to make their online pages look as though they are living the American dream and not expose weakness.”(Lowry 501).Through face-to-face interactions, one would find it difficult to manipulate the way others would perceive them. Henceforth, while participating in online interactions, individuals find it effortless to create telling stories about themselves that rarely accurately describe the reality of their lives. Society has often turned to social media to validate themselves by the means of likes and shares. Recent studies calculated on average individuals devote 135 minutes of their time to social media every day. Research has shown that the more time individuals spend surfing and posting content on social media networking sites, the higher their levels of anxiety is. New evidence suggests that whether individuals distribute their time on social media by viewing other people’s content or manipulating their own, the excessive use of social media engagement subjects users to be exposed to severe mental
Support: Technology is linking diverse cultures to instigate stronger relations meant for associated consumers of media product.
In “‘Plug In’ Better: A Manifesto”, technology writer and commentator Dr. Alexandra Samuel states that she believe that there is a middle ground between completely “plugging in” and “unplugging”. She states that we should approach our online interactions in the same ways we approach our offline ones. In “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price” (part of the New York Times’ “Your Brain on Computers” series), journalist Matt Richtel details technology’s effects on an actual family and recounts their experiences. Although Drs. Restak and Samuel are both widely respected in their individual fields, Mr. Richtel’s journalistic career has been almost exclusively devoted to studying technology’s impact on our lives and attention, and his views are voiced loudly throughout his work, even though they are not explicitly stated.
Convergence will continue based on technology and social media. Never in the world’s history has there been a time where technology has retracted. In the contemporary world, as technology becomes a more vibrant part of peoples’ lives as consumers, that forces marketing and public relations to become even more hand and hand than they already are. –Dr. Bod Batchelor
Are technology and the media shedding the very fabric of the existence we have known? As technology and the media spread their influence, the debate over the inherent advantages and disadvantages intensifies. Although opinions vary widely on the subject, two writers offer similar views: Professor Sherry Turkle, director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, in her article “Can You Hear Me Now” and Naomi Rockler-Gladen, who formerly taught media studies at Colorado State University, with her article “Me Against the Media: From the Trenches of a Media Lit Class.” Turkle asserts that technology has changed how people develop and view themselves, while at the same time affecting their concepts of time management and focus (270). Similarly, Rockler-Gladen believes media and its inherent advertising have had a profound effect on the values and thinking of the public (284). I could not agree more with Professor Turkle and Ms. Rockler-Gladen; the effects technology and media have worried and annoyed me for quite so time. The benefits of technology and media are undeniable, but so then are the flaws. People are beginning to shift their focus away from the physical world to the virtual world as they find it easier and more comfortable. The intended purpose of technology and media was to be a tool to improve the quality of life, not shackles to tie people to their devices. I no longer recognize this changed world and long for the simple world of my youth.
development, in recent years the increase in popularity and availability of the Internet has brought about a new 'culture' to which
Everett Rogers defines diffusion as “a special type of communication in which the messages are concerned with a new idea. It is this newness of the idea in the message content of communication that gives diffusion its special character. The newness means that some degree of uncertainty is involved” (Rogers, 1982, p. 6). Moreover, it is the process of communicating an innovation through media over time among members of a social system.
Misrepresenting ourselves and other individuals publicly through the utilization of social media goes against Mary Shelley’s morals in relation to the invasion of technology into modern life. Social media can become monstrous when an individual’s identity is misinterpreted through social networks. By definition, social media refers to “forms of electronic communications . . . through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)” (Merriam-Webster).
There have been many developments in the emergence of convergence and participatory culture in recent decades. In these developments, we have seen a complete new set of rules in how consumers and producers interact with each other, and how audience members have converted from being passive to active in their reception of information provided to them by producers. This new paradigm is not purely technological but also cultural as, convergence culture “represents a cultural shift as consumers are encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content” (Jenkins, 2006, Convergence Culture). The technology of course provides the platforms for this new form of interactivity, however it has most certainly moved past the basic technological functions and created a whole new culture and lifestyle for consumers and producers alike.
This means that when foreign cultures flow into new locations, they combine elements and features of local cultures with their existing forms and so produce new cultural forms. According to Lule (2012), local cultures remain active and distinctive during this interaction. They do not decline and perish due to the impact of Western culture. In this process, the media has two essential roles. First, the media is the site of cultural globalization.
“I didn't know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time –Betty White (“Betty White Quotes,” 2014, para. 1).” This quote can be interpreted to fit with several of the social media avenues that many people spend their time on. Day in and day out people post, tweet, share, and pin countless times throughout the world. These different forms of communication were first created for an easier way for people to connect with others. Yet now, so much time is spent on these social sites that it has warped the interactive part and is causing more damage than good. Many are growing a desire and are living for the amount of “likes” they can receive on a post or how many re-tweets they can generate. Instead of going to these outlets to participate in a partial portion of their social lives, people are filling that time with the technological aspect of communication. As White said, this can become an inordinate amount of wasted time and can ultimately grow into further damaging circumstances. These different social media channels can cause emotional harm through disparaging the relationship between friends, conjuring of a narcissistic personality, and the retrogradation of ones self-esteem.
The diffusion of innovation theory is a multifaceted tool that can be used for many purposes. It allows for a look at as to why an innovation succeeds or why it fails and it can also tell you how that innovation spread and to who it spread to over a certain period of time. The culmination of a life time of work by Everett M. Rogers who is the leader in the field of innovation diffusion and utilized by many that gathers most of the information needed through surveys. When applied to the field of the spread of media through the internet it can give a picture as to the types of things people find entertaining and it can also map how that media diffuses into society.
This happens sociologically in a macro way . Individually and within a micro-sociological approach, our choice of media technology is equally impacted. The consumption of goods is placed at the centre of our everyday lives and how it relates to our individual and group identities, in our culture and traditions and the implications of our consumer lifestyles is recognised . Many new 'start-up'' businesses succeed because of this technology. It is affordable and accessible.
These things have become so common that not having them almost makes it seem like there is something missing. Because of features such as these, it is incredibly easy to share every aspect of what we are reading, doing, eating and listening to with everyone in our social networks. While this has meant incredible advances in the way we interact with our world, it has also fundamentally changed the way our social relationships are created and sustained. Social medial led users to have false impression of others and changed our feelings. Because social media users tend to only show the most positive aspects of their lives, social media users have a false sense of reality when it comes to how they seem themselves, how others see them and how they see other people. “It is not difficult to say that social media effect our perception of others” (Goshgarian213).
Rosen, senior editor if New Atlantis, on her essay published in Wilson Quarterly in autumn 2009 “In the Beginning Was the Word,” points out how digital technology, especially in communication and entertainment, affects negatively on our lives socially and cognitively. She believes that although technology might appear as sign of our progress as humans, it is withdrawing us from the core literature. Rosen explains th...
Hence, any debate of the future becoming digital must take into consideration the reaction of the media to the technological innovations of the world, from the Personal Computers (PC) to the smallest Smartphone. Although mass media has increased with technological innovations, what driv...