As the world is becoming more digital, it makes certain things much easier to do such as communicating, sending mail and the presence of an online community where people can share their same interest or ideas. These days, more and more people have digital devices such as computer tablets, laptops, smart phones, and some other digital gadgets. Moreover, it seems that text messaging has replaced conventional modes of everyday conversation. An additional thing that might also be completely replaced is the printed book. Students can today carry a whole library worth of studying material on a small tablet or e-reader’s. There might be a day when a person no longer searches the aisles of the library, but they simply download the writing quickly when necessary. Many books are already available in electronic format, and several school are starting to choose the ease with digital tablets. Little information is available as to the number of schools that possess plans allowing the use of mobile phones and various other electronics in class. This is all happening because of the digital age, where almost everything is accessible online or at the touch of a finger. Great innovations are coming out which is making everyday life much simpler, as well as numerous opportunities that can be established as our society gets more advanced.
With these advancements, the group who are benefiting most from the digital age would be students or children. Things such as taking notes are a lot easier with the benefits of computer typing. If notes and projects are stored in a computer, there is less probability of them being lost, particularly if significant files are regularly backed up. Information stored in a computer can effortlessly be altered into numerous different formats, perhaps making it less difficult to study. Texts can be converted into graphs or charts with a lot of word processing software. Learners can cut and paste essential quotes or illustrations into essays, preserving time on homework and with the additional benefits of carrying less books since everything is becoming digital. Also, a lot of teachers use online resources, for example e-mailing and publishing tasks on a personal web page, students practically need to keep up with the occasions with some kind of device that provides Internet access. There are a lot of positive aspects to going digital. One of the most beneficial things to come from the digital age is the increasing form of communication. Communication is the fundamental stepping stone in creating an online community, not just for personal interest but in business as well. My project focuses on the light side of the digital age. How all these advancements are benefiting society more so then trying to harm it. In the novel The Circle, the main plot is that it shows the negative aspects of social media and shows how digital age may not be so good as it questions our need of privacy. The novel does bring valuable points to the issue of privacy and surveillance, and how one can abuse the concept of everything becoming digital. With TruYou and SeeChange, you might question if that is the future for us as a society as we are becoming more advanced.
While The Circle may discuss the potential abuse of the digital age, I’m here to discuss the alternatives, the light side of the digital age and what we as society can benefit from. With the creation of the internet and mobile phones, communication has become so advanced in such a short period of time. People can talk to one another from across the world, send messages with e-mail and with the addition of social media, the world is turning into a digital book. While everyone is familiar with the concept of social media, I’m here to discuss in depth of the communities that can be made and why building a community is important.
Communities are held together by common interest. It maybe a hobby, something the community members are passionate about, a common goal, a common project, or merely the preference for a similar lifestyle, geographical location, or profession. Clearly people join the community because they care about this common interest that glues the community members together. Some stay because they felt the urge to contribute to the cause; others come because they can benefit from being part of the community. Websites such as Yelp, Reddit, Wikipedia and even YouTube provide a community for people all around the world to partake in. All of the content on these sites are meant to be shared and looked upon together, for people with similar interest in a certain area. To me, I’m always fascinated on an online community because in some of these sites, the members or fans act like family toward each other, even when they have never met. For example, YouTube is big on building a community for people who have similar interest in video and photography. When a video becomes viral, one of the main reason is that people found interest and shared the video to others, and it keeps spreading all over the world. It also feels as the viewers can relate to personal problems the video maker is facing, and often times the ‘community’ tries to help others with same problem. Because of these communities, donations are even made sometimes to help a cause, even though the person donating may have never met the other person face to face. It is incredible and comforting to know that there are good people in the world and are willing to help others. With communities, an endless amount of opportunities arise. It could be related to work experience or something of a hobby where you are introduced to a new idea because of the connections you had. Communities are more interesting from a social perspective, because they often consist of people from all walks of life that seem to have no relationship at all. Social media plays a big part in creating a community as well, but different in a way because you seem to have some form of relation that is already pre-established.
Technology itself is a double edged sword. You get both the good and bad for something new and innovative. With the development of better technology and the world becoming more digital, certain subjects come into hand. For example, the issues of privacy in the real world and in The Circle are relatable because it is a real issue we are fighting today. The Circle reminds me of a modern version of 1984, with social media being Big Brother. The Circle doesn’t base itself as a true community because everything seems forced upon with the relation that you are constantly being watched.
For my final project, I decided to research on the light side of the digital age and how great things can come from the digital era. I’m still deciding whether to use the tool Pixton or not. It depends on how I could demonstrate the benefits of the digital age through comics. But I hope to express how the digital age can demonstrate the good in society even though it has its negatives.
I found an article on the New York Times talking about how Facebook was buying WhatsApp for 16 billion dollars. In my opinion I’m not surprised that Facebook would do a thing like that because they are trying to take over the social media platform. Facebook has become one of the biggest social media site ever and it would only make sense to expand its power and buy other companies. WhatsApp is known for mobile messaging and Facebook is trying to expand its effort in creating a series of applications on a users device rather than social networking alone. I’m for this article because it’s all about Capitalism, trying to succeed over others and coming out on top. WhatApps growth has been growing dramatically from the time it was introduced, so Facebook has benefited greatly by buying this company. What I’m curious is how far Facebook will go and will it try to buy other companies in an effort to expand its market. Facebook still happens to be the most downloaded app on smartphones and remains in strong position with cellphone operators. I guess time will only tell on how much bigger Facebook plans on being in the media world.