How We Use It

Born in 1985, new media has virtually been a second mother to me so forgive me David Shedden for not being absolutely shocked to find that new media's only constant is change. Since my own birth the face of this second new media has never stopped changing, whether it was from the original Nintendo to Nintendo DS or from Dial Up with AOL to fast speeds with Cox High Speed Internet. Inevitably as I read Shedden's article and its recounts of “videotext” and “Viewtron” and how they have gone the way of the Do-do bird the term "preaching to the choir" comes to mind. Although it does seem logical to discuss how quickly media seems to change, let's just say it's old news and stick with what is currently really changing how people look at new media... the way we use it and the products it creates.

This topic sparks my interest and I find that this subject is where the true digital dialectic should begin. Bob Stein's article asks the public big questions that make everyone tremble, "Whom does it serve" and "What's it for?" Suddenly people are forced to step back and take a closer look at how the Internet really affects society worldwide. When I browse through the Internet and am bombarded by ads ranging from car companies to makeup companies I can see how the Internet can be used to “digitally globalize” the world into one mass consumer driven western culture. However, as I continue reading Stein's article and remember that new media can also be used to distribute intellectual products over mediums such as CD-ROMs, I am instilled yet again with hope for new media and society. Sites such as “YouTube” are also using new media to spread a new intellectual base to the masses, digitally broadcasting presidential debates, so anyone can watch them at any time of the day, adding a touch of intellectualism to our virtual environment. So now as I take a closer look at the "infrastructure of worldwide networking" and what it can accomplish and remain hopeful that society will take the best features of new media and minimize the features that may cause society to lose its connection with itself.