This has been a truly remarkable course that has allowed me to think outside the norm and really focus in depth about my experiences with the cell phone, blogging, social networks, and virtual worlds. I think that I have been able to gain an incredible amount of knowledge from this course. I have realized that I am so dependent on my cell phone and it holds me back in a lot of my relationships. I feel like through texting, I cut back on a lot of conversations and face-to-face interaction. I really wonder if relationships are going to be forever changed or if there will really be some way to bring back face-to-face interaction, so that our relationships with others are not weakened and/or terminated all together.
Something that was really reinforced throughout this class was the fact that these advances in technology keep children these days from the most important thing in life; family. Our society today has become so obsessed with the growing technology that we take so much of it for granted and we never seem satisfied, only hungering for more. Clifford Stoll talks about this major concept and in all actuality it really frightens me to think about what the next generation will be like! I feel like children are learning way too much at an early age and they are acting too old. It saddens me to think that they are missing out what is truly is to be a child.
All in all, this course was extremely helpful. It made me realize that although these new advances in technology are able to transform our lives and in some cases make things easier, there is a negative side to them that most people are not aware of. I have to admit that if I was not forced to think about how these types of media affect our lives, I never in a million years would have thought that talking on the phone in public was so bad! Also, I now feel like I am much more aware of the danger of social networks, especially the “not so private” privacy settings on facebook that we talked about. I feel extremely grateful that I was exposed to all of the information in this class regarding the types of identities that I portray with my cell phone especially. I am much more self-conscious about my ring tone and when and where I choose to use it!
Thinking back and reflecting on this whole semester…the role new media has played in my life is kind of depressing because it ruins so much! However, now that I am made aware of the problems, I am one step closer to fixing them!
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