This week's reading, the BusinessWeek story "The MySpace Generation", was an interesting look at an outsider's view of the ever-changing youth culture online, especially considering the piece was written over a year ago, when MySpace was just beginning to gain widespread attention among those outside of the demographic that regularly visited the site. As the article points out, the power that users of MySpace and other online social networking sites exercise in determining companies' advertising strategies can hardly be overestimated; even corporations as large as Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble are "clamoring to be a part of the new social landscape."
However, the portion of the article that struck me most forcefully was the description of a seemingly typical day in the life of Amanda Adams. Like most persons her age, she regularly visits and contributes to several blogging and social networking sites, holds Instant Messenger conversations, watches television, listens to music, and interacts with friends in the same room with her—all simultaneously. Although this is simply dubbed "multitasking" and seen as commonplace by some, I find it disconcerting to say the least. Granted, I often find myself in similar scenarios, but the fact that this is a nearly perpetual state of being for many others my age and younger is, in my opinion, the source of many of the problems facing our society today.
First, this sort of constant sensory overload is almost certainly the cause of the relatively recent spike in cases of ADD and ADHD. As individuals become accustomed to seemingly endless streams of stimuli, they begin to seek out this sort of stimulation in other situations, making it difficult for them to focus entirely on any one thing. Similarly, the relatively small amount of attention paid to each of the activities in which a person is engaged while multitasking in this way becomes the norm. When the individual encounters a subject that requires his or her full attention, he or she will then have difficulty fully devoting his or her senses to that subject. This kind of less-than-full attention may be acceptable in some instances, but in others it is undoubtedly inadequate.
As for "Web 2.0...The Machine Is Us/ing Us", I think it's a near-perfect illustration of how the Internet and its concomitant technologies have changed and are still changing our lives. Of course, I also feel this video is noteworthy as well. Although its production quality is nowhere near that of Professor Wesch's video, it raises a few interesting points regarding the opening moments of the latter.
"The MySpace Generation" @ BusinessWeek
"Web 2.0...The Machine Is Us/ing Us" @ YouTube
"Web 2.0...We Respond to We/sch" @ YouTube
MySpace
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hmmm..I like your ADD/ADHD comment. It actually makes a lot of sense for me. If I'm online I can pay attention to music, iming, updating my myspace, talking to people in the room all at the same time. But if I'm trying to concentrate on reading something for school, I can be in the room with the door shut and the TV or voices coming from the other room will make it SO hard for me to concentrate. I can't block them out. I never noticed a connection between the two, but now that you point it out it really makes a lot of sense.
First off, nice job with the post. I should probably start using all the hyperlink style stuff seeing as how that is our class focus. Good call. Well written and thought out also. I totally agree with the comment about the ADD spike. It's like with so many stimuli around us, our bank of attention is being spread too thin. Is this our fault? To some degree, of course. But I also think that one of the reasons we use all of these things (tv, computers, music) is not only because we enjoy them, but because they are pushed on to us constantly. While at Best Buy I was looking at possible computers to replace my old one, and after the sales guy gave up trying to sell me laptops, he started talking about plasma T.V.'s. Technology is not just available, it is thrust upon us. I'm on a tangent. I liked your post. Keep up the good work.
You hit the nail on the head, at least in my opinion, in respect to the source of our problems these days. I agree with you entirely that multitasking has played a huge rule in the increase in ADD/ADHD cases. I have noticed it at work, school, and typical social interactions that a lot of people I know have a hard time staying on one subject, especially for long periods of time. It's a shame that this wonderful tool is causing attention problems for ourselves. I'm curious to see how that will affect this generation in the future. Very nice post!
I really enjoyed this post, as well. There really is an incessant "sensory overload" going on and you're right, it trickles down into other aspects of our lives. I find it so difficult to study and get any work done in my apartment due to this. I have to gather up my books, walk to our apartment computer lab or drive to the santa fe library if I really want to get anything done. My roommate laughs, but I am so overwhelmed in my apartment with all the distractions. Even after I'm settled at the library, it takes a little to really get focused again. It's frustrating to imagine how people who aren't as motivated go about dealing with such stressors and overloads.
Post a Comment