Every generation claims their own
originality: the sixties had hippies, the seventies had the rise of plaid, the
eighties – parachute pants, and the nineties held a metal/grunge movement among
the youth, which to everyone’s dismay involved yet more plaid. The new millennium
is not without its own quirks, but we are changing things in a way never seen
before. Our generation is changing the way we think about social issues, the
way we spread the news, and even the ways in which we interact.
I am referring to the rise of
technology-mediated communications. Of course there have been mediated
communications for a long time in the form of letters, the telegraph, and the
telephone. People have always asked questions about how mediated communications
could affect our society. Letters used to hold wax seals to infer authenticity
from the sender, with the rise of the telephone many wondered how face-to-face
interactions may suffer, but with the rise of the internet age and social
networking sites (i.e. Twitter and Facebook) we are connected and mediated in
ways that have never been seen before.
Lately, we have seen Twitter and
Facebook hitting record numbers (closing the end of 2011 with 200 million and 500
million user, respectively), and text based messaging becoming the preferred
method of communication for many young adults, the questions faced by many researchers
are simple: How are these changes affecting the way we think about interactions
and where will these changes lead?
Even if it is, as many doomsday prophesiers
say, that these social giants will fall they will have to be replaced with
something new because social networking has changed the way in which we use the
internet. In as little as approximately half a decade, these sites have become
ingrained in how we think about communication and our social circles. These are not the only two. Other social based sites are constantly popping up across cyberspace such as Linkedin - Facebook for professionals, Flickr - Sharing pictures, Google+ - Google's response to Facebook, and many more. In this age
of the smartphone, the internet is becoming even more tied to social activity
with over half of social networking sites activity coming from mobile devices. Also, as of today, I have never heard of
anyone argue that texting is going anywhere. Which if anyone does decide to
take up this position, the evidence would be stacked against them. As of late
2010, it was reported that the average teenager/young adult sends 3,339 texts
per month, and the number has only grown since then.
Studying mediated interactions is a
broad topic that affects many fields: psychology, sociology, anthropology,
communications, information sciences, engineering, and human-computer
interactions (a discipline on the rise for drawing on previous knowledge for
just these questions). I am sure there
are more that I cannot think of at the moment, but the ones listed above are
obvious academic pursuits that would be affected. However, outside of the world
of academia, knowing how mediated communications work, what weaknesses they
expose us to and how they can benefit us, is a topic which we should all take a
great interest in. It is possible that in your lifetime research pertaining to
technology use could be some of the most valuable information you acquire. That
is the purpose of this blog: to explore research from the fields listed above concerning
the rise of the technology-mediated world we live in. I believe that as active
participants and contributors in this societal shift we should all be aware of
how this choice is affecting us and those around us for good, bad, and neutral.
My goal is simply to pass on some of
this scientific education to you in some small way.
Sources
Joinson,
Adam M., Hancock, Jeffery, & Briggs, Pam (2008). “Secrets and lies in
computer-mediated interaction: theories, methods, and design.” CHI 2008 Proceedings
[Workshop].
Parr,
Ben (2012). “The average teenager send 3,339 texts per month [Stats].” Mashable
Tech. Retrieved From: http://mashable.com/2010/10/14/nielsen-texting-stats/\
Bosker,
Bianca (2011). “Twitter: We now have over 200 million accounts (Update).” The
Huffington Post. Retrieved From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/twitter-number-of-users_n_855177.html
Hepburn,
Aden (2011). “Facebook statistics, stats, and facts for 2011.” Digital Buzz
Blog. Retrieved from: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-statistics-stats-facts-2011/
