Core Thoughts

Alex DuJardin

6/22/11

Core Thoughts

            After reading articles about new media technology and how it’s growing in the world, I have been inspired with new questions to this new world.  The first question is, will all newspapers be completely wiped out by competition from the on-line news organizations and from citizen journalists?  My second question is, can people of this current generation of new media technology succeed up to the current social and work status quos with out new media technology?  The third and final question is, although it is true that new media technology enhances and has changed the social culture in so many positive ways, are there any major signs of decreases in our social skills when it comes to face-to-face interaction?  (By the way, Skype does not count as face-to-face; I’m talking about interaction with people “in the flesh”.) 

            The rest of this paper will include more details of the three questions and how specific articles helped answer my questions.  A challenge of discussing or contemplating these questions is that right now, it seems as if everything is always changing at a very fast pace.  Everyday, there is something new in the media, and if you’re not new-media savvy, you’ll be out of the loop.  With that said, it’s difficult to predict what will happen to certain aspects of new media technology, and old media technology, because everything is always changing, there is always something new.

            Starting with my first question, will all newspapers be completely wiped out by competition from the on-line news organizations and from citizen journalists?  Personally, I feel this is a topic that should be thought very carefully about, because I believe that yes, someday news on paper will no longer exist.  One reason I think newspapers will die out is because of citizen-journalism.  However, in the article, “Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable” by Clay Shirky, he wrote, “ If you want to know why newspapers are in such trouble, the most salient fact is this:  Printing presses are terrifically expensive to set up and run” (2009).  For me, this is a new thought to why newspapers could be done for someday.  Economics after all, are a huge component of what keeps products going.  

            Secondly, can people of this current generation of new media technology succeed up to the current social and work status quos, with out new media technology?  Being twenty years old, and growing up in the ever growing world of new media technology, right now it truthfully is hard to succeed more than others at important things like work and social lives with out it.  Today, it seems as if the majority of everything people can do involves some sort of new media technology, and if you’re not fluent with this new generation, it will be difficult to keep up with the changing culture.  In the article, “Nine Propositions Towards a Cultural Theory of YouTube”, it is said that, “Social networking emerges as one of the important social skills and cultural competencies that young people need to acquire if they are going to become meaningful participants in the culture around them” (Schoz & Hartzog, 2007).  This statement answers my question; having social networking skills with new media technology is very important to meet the new status quo of the culture of media.

             Lastly, although it is true that new media technology enhances and has changed the social culture in so many positive ways, are there any major signs of decreases in our social skills when it comes to face-to-face interaction?  I would say yes, because today, a major portion of our ways communication with other people is on the Internet.  In many cases, people become very dependent on getting their “social fix” from the Internet, and therefore eventually lose the ability to regularly interact with people face-to-face.  Especially when it comes to expressing thoughts or emotions.  It is much easier for people to express things to other people on the Internet than in person because if there are consequences, they can be avoided by the click of your mouse, and in the end, facing reality just goes away.  People are acting in ways on the Internet that they would not do in real life.  Being and acting in anyway you want is possible because of the Internet.  This is causing people to lose their social skills.  Kaplan and Haenlein wrote in their article, “Users of the World, Unite!  The Challenges and opportunities of Social Media”, “…virtual social worlds allows inhabitants to choose their behavior more freely and essentially live a virtual life…there are no rules restricting the range of possible interactions” (2009).  This citing even shows how people will even chose to live their “life” on the Internet as a virtual avatar.  Could faking a social life on the Internet possible decrease your real life social skills?  I hope the obvious answer is yes.