3.03.2007

(Journalism: Editorial Cartoon)
Commercialism

2.23.2007

(Communication Technology: Newspaper Article)
The Changing Face of Communication: Connections Through Wires

     It’s 2007. I’m sure many people vividly recall the scare that was the new millennium. Will the world end? Will the sun explode? Or will my hard-earned computer simply crash? Back then, it wasn’t assumed that every household owned a computer and it was extremely uncommon for ten-year-olds to own their own cell phones. Oh, how the times have changed.
     Years ago, we were all wow-ed by the revolutionary technology that was the cellular phone, but now, we rely on technology for most every -aspect of our lives. There is no doubt that the convenience of communication has drastically increased with the advent of new, twenty-first century technology. However, does the utter convenience of communication through email, MSN, text messages and social profile websites (think Facebook or MySpace) reign over a good, real, face-to-face conversation? Through this technologically enhanced form of communication, we miss out on facial expressions and body language, and these components may be just as important as the conversation itself.
     According to a national 2003 poll, the majority of high school students use instant messaging software such as the ever-popular MSN on a daily basis. We all know by now that instant messaging is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text.
     Now the question is, just how often do we rely on technology-based communication to interact with the people we care about? I’m sure we’ve all heard of break-ups through emails and text messages. It seems that as a society, we have come to rely on technological communication as a basis for human interaction. Not only that, but we have come to rely on digital communication as our primary form of communication.
     We have become satisfied with instant message conversations to exchange real, intimate, information about our lives. This does not simply apply to strangers and internet predators as is seen on the evening news, but even more so to our friends and the people we may even see on a daily basis. I’m sure it is quite clear that confiding in another person through instant messages and other forms of technology-based conversation is much easier than doing so in person.
     A text message, instant message, or email allows a person to take more time thinking of what they want to say, and though this is convenient, it is not something we are given in real life, face-to-face situations. Some people take courses online in order to avoid face-to-face interaction. These people can feel empowered through technology-based communication. Technology provides people who may not be comfortable speaking their mind with the ability to hide behind a computer monitor or telephone. However, this factor of convenience should not become something we are accustomed to.
     In the past, even the use of the telephone caused concern. People thought that it wasn’t a good way to communicate. But now, the telephone is a very normal form of communication, and communication itself seems as if it has become colder. I personally think that technology - now ranging far and beyond the telephone - has contributed to the deteriorating communication as a principle. I pass by a room where I know my thirteen-year-old sister talking to her friends, but I don’t hear any conversation. There is no comfortable silence between friends. Instead, I hear the clicking of the keys on her keyboard and the “ping” from the speakers as she receives instant messages from a dozen of her friends. When I ask her why she doesn’t just call them, she simply replies, “It’s easier.”
     As a society, I think we are in the midst of forgetting how to really communicate in a genuine manner. The initial goal of communication through all our new technology was to provide an easier way to connect. But ask yourself this – are we really, truly connecting?

2.20.2007

(Communication Technology: Question #3)
Media Mashup

The concept of “hybridity” is something which I experience in my life on a daily basis. A hybrid is essentially something which is a mix of more than one thing. Such hybrids can be found throughout contemporary life.
I have an email subscription to Nylon Magazine’s newsletter, and upon checking my email one day, I stumbled across the word “hybrid” in one of my many messages from Nylon. Immediately, I thought back to the media seminar about hybrids and creating my hybrid portrait. In the email newsletter I received, I was being informed of a new “art-bar hybrid” called GalleryBar opening in New York City. At this new bar, a person can browse the debut of artist Kevin Berlin’s “Slaves of Fashion” exhibit while taking in a drink and a snack and later posing for a picture in a vintage photo booth. This space, as the name suggests, integrates the workings of both a bar and an art gallery.

There are many other examples of hybridity in life, and in my daily life in particular. A popular example of hybridity in my life is my cell phone. It can be used as a phone but also as a clock, calculator, calendar and recording device. Another example of a hybrid is a hybrid car. It uses both electricity and gas to run, and not only is it convenient and less costly on gas, but it also works to help the environment. Hybridity is everywhere. If you think about it enough, I myself could even be considered a hybrid because I am a girl, but I am also a student and a daughter among many other different roles.
Hybridity in technology is very prevalent today. In our society, functionality has become a key aspect of life and people today are concerned with having things at the utmost convenience, so what’s more convenient than making numerous tasks possible just through the use of one handy gadget?