In this module we have been looking at different forms of new media and how this has an effect on our everyday experiences as well as the more uncommon aspects of our lives. In the first seminar we started to discuss the many forms in which new media can take place, this opened my eyes to the whole subject as I hadn't previously realised how much my life relies on media and communication, even if the whole concept sometimes baffles me.
As I got thinking about the new media cultures we had been talking about I began to see the huge links with communication and how new forms of technological media have pushed communication into a new realm. Communication is now, more than ever, a huge part of everybody’s lives. We communicate to the world on a daily basis and the world communicates to us, be it through advertisements or newspapers, just to name a couple. But the communication tends to be much more ephemeral, very rarely are newly made adverts preserved or remembered for much longer than a couple of weeks at the most. The same is true for personal media communication, text messages we receive may cheer us up or simply tell us something, but when our inbox’s get full we delete them and don’t think twice about it. It seems that even though the quantity of communication in ours lives has greatly increased, the same quality has been lost.
After thinking about this I began to read through the inbox on my phone and found some messages that instantly made me smile, I thought that sooner or later these messages were going to be lost along with the rest. So I decided to save them, I didn’t want to think that I may forget about them.
New media cultures are intended to be expansive, they are supposed to allow us to enter a free and almost escapist world. In many senses this is true, technology has brought us the internet, allowing us communicate with the whole world at the touch of a button. We are now able to globalise our culture and peek into other ways of living with great ease, but contrary to what we may believe the internet Isn't totally allowing free speach, many of the websites we visit have already been censored for our viewing, this is taken to a more extreme level in countries like China, where even everyday search engines such as google are regulated, so that they only bring up results the government want thier people to see. But the internet does have many bonuses, there are many site now, such as blog.co.uk or myspace.com that allow everyone to show the world their own personal interests. it can be a great way of communicating and meeting new freinds, but only if you have the know how. Most of my friends have a myspace page and they are constantly badgering to get one, and although I feel like I should I have no idea how to go about setting one up, the fact that I've managed to set up this blog amazes me.
Hopefully sooner rather than later i will feel confident enough with my computer to create a myspace or facebook page and join in with the rest of the world.
