I have been checking out a few of the first year posts and i must say that their understanding of evolving technologies and the media are a lot more advanced than when i first started! Phil’s post got me thinking, epscially his comment ‘like a global network, our lives are changing.’ This in part is because technology is so rapidly changing and growing, that our lives have to change both to keep up with our communication to each other and exploring new ways to stay connected.
I do however disagree with his notion of a ‘pre-networking era’ because people have always networked, but this method has only altered since the internet began being used for personal use. Instead of staying close to a few friends that demand face-to-face interaction, we are now able to socialise with 100′s of old friends on networking sites like facebook, chat to 10 people at a time on MSN while browsing through newspaper or celebrity blogs and downloading the latest music. Technology has enabled us to expand our networking and socialising capabilities, although the sacrifice of this is that our connections are not as deep as the face-to-face interactions with our close friends (as if we could catch up for coffee with all of our friends on facebook!), so it would seem that with quantity lacks quality.
I think that Natalia makes a valid point in discussing how media is evolving from the standard newspaper by adopting blogs, videomedia and online discussion, which diversifies our methods of reading and receiving media as consumers. When she refers to society desiring convenience and instant gratisfaction, i see this as a partial result of our changing attitudes in how we receive information, through becoming participants rather than consumers, because we are actively seeking out information rather than waiting around for it to be fed to us. It is more convenient for us to receive an RSS feed of the latest news, typed and posted 3 mins ago, rather than waiting for the 6 o’clock news or the newspapers the next day, and it is more convenient to catch up with 10 people on the internet than calling 1 person over the phone.
I can relate to Natalia as we have common goals for the industry, however she has opened up a perspective for me that i haven’t properly considered or accepted. Just being able to write for print media doesn’t cut it these days. As a journalist we do need the skills and understanding of technology in order to connect with others. I’ve had the mentality that the production side of the course was just for people wanting to be graphic designers… stupid and a little closed-minded, but i will definately appreciate and value these skills from now on!
