I must admit that I am not very technology savvy. I was three when we first got a computer at home. I was one of those children that always had to be doing something. So, in order to get me out of her hair, my mom sat me down in front of the computer and told me to figure out how to use PC paintbrush. I think my encounter with technology at a young age has almost made me take it for granted, not truly appreciating what exactly it can do. My computer use is very constricted, in the sense that until recently the only thing I really used it for was for homework and social networking. For me inventions such as AIM, Facebook, Cellphone texting, and Skype are one of the greatest inventions ever. As you will come to learn, I am not the most talkative person. But, with AIM and texting, it is a completely different story. I know that many people say that this form of communication is less personal, but I feel that texting and im-ing has enabled me to communicate better than I normally would.
Growing up, I always thought that I wanted to major in Chemistry. And up until about three years ago, I thought that was what I would do. But then, my senior year in high school, I decided to take a media literacy class for fun. I was told “Oh, all you do in that class is watch movies!” That sounded like a good idea to me, seeing as though the rest of my schedule was full with intensive science and math courses. But, what I did not know what that class would open up my eyes to and entire aspect of life that I normally disregarded – technology. I have become fascinated by the way technology is used to communicate.
I can identify with how you talk about how using media technology can make it easier to communicate at times. In AIM for example, you have time to think about your responses to IM’s so everything is a lot less threatening. I wonder if there has been studies that investigate the correlation between using new media forms of communication and “real world” communication. Does texting, writing emails and IMing help or inhibit real world communication? Are we all becoming socially inept because of these new forms of communication or is technology connecting us?
I guess it all depends on your perspective. It can’t be denied that people are being brought together. But at the same time, as Robert Putnam outlines in bowling alone, our communities are falling apart. Or are our communities just moving online?