Blog #3: Amusing Ourselves To Death

Social media and technology has changed the world drastically. The way people interact with others and the way people go on with their daily lives is all changed because of technology. According to the article, "How Technology Has Changed Society as We Know It", it says, "A cell phone was something hard-wired into your vehicle, only accessible in emergency situations and the subscription fee attached to the service was highly overpriced. Now, owning a cell phone is more like a necessity that most people cannot live without." This quote shows how technology has advanced and how people are adapting to the advancements. In result of this huge change in technology, people always have to up to date with the latest technology and have to feel like they fit in with the rest of the world. Facebook, Twitter, IPhones, Instagram, and all the social networking sites are all huge advancements in the social media and technology world. It helps everyone be connected and know what is going on in the world every second.

Technology and social media changed the way people interact with other. From the article, "How Technology Has Changed Society as We Know It", it states, "The courtesy that we have for one another seems to have nearly disappeared." People don't want to talk to each other face to face because they have the technology to call them or send a quick text message. In some instances, people in the same household would call or text each other rather than going to talk to them because it is easier and faster and technology has made everything easier and faster. Technology and social media also changed our culture for the greater good. Everything is more convenient and faster. You don't have to search through the dictionary to find a definition anymore, you can just find it on the computer. Everything is now quick, simple, and more effective. You can now talk to someone and see someone when they are across the world. Even though the interaction with people face to face has decreased, the interaction with people over technology has dramatically increased.

According to Community Media Center, media literacy is, "the practice of turning passive media consumers into critical thinkers and media creators." It is making people think more and be more invested and knowledgeable about the media. According to Community Media Center, being media literate is, "being able to think critically about news, entertainment, and advertisements, asking questions such as "who is this targeting?", "what interests does it represent?", and "what techniques and tools are they using to persuade the intended audience?" I would consider myself media literate because even though I am not actually asking myself those questions, I still can figure out those questions based on my knowledge of the media and from my education in my school. When I see commercial or articles, I can figure out who the target audience is based on the content and I can figure out what they are persuading and how they are persuading it.

 I do agree with Postman's article, "Amusing Ourselves to Death" because he is agreeing with Huxley and that the world today is so invested in technology and social media that their real self is "dying". Their personality and interaction with people is dying because they only use their technology to interact with people. They aren't showing their true selves anymore because all they do is amuse themselves on their technology. I agree that Huxley's vision is more relevant today than Orwell's vision because Huxley thinks that people will be so amused with their technology and that no one will read books anymore; and that statement is true today. He also visions that people will adore their technologies because it makes them not have to think so much, which is also true today because everyone wants things to come easier to them and not have to try or think so hard. Huxley fears that what we love will ruin us and I very much agree that is what is happening today. Technology is something everyone loves, but technology is ruining themselves because everyone is so caught up in their technology that they aren't ever seeing and experiencing the real world 

http://www.allbestarticles.com/society/how-technology-has-changed-society-as-we-know-it.html
http://www.grcmc.org/medialit/what.php