Digital Nation

The program on “Frontline” called Digital Nation was very interesting, especially since their target audience is our generation. When the video came on I saw a Digital professor stand up and signal everyone to put their lap tops down so I quickly shut mine off and put it back in my bag. However, most of the people around me still had their lap tops open--- a girl in front of me was even shopping online. Little did she know, this was the exact sort of thing the video was about to address. 

The reality is, people multi-task all the time. They are on their computer, watching videos on Youtube, tagging themselves in pictures on Facebook, and all the while trying to do their reading homework. People don’t realize that there are some implications to this kind of lifestyle. The video Digital Nation concluded that, “Multitaskers are terrible at every aspect of multitasking. They get distracted constantly and their memory is very disorganized...we worry that it may be creating people who are unable to think well and clearly.” I strongly agree with their point; how can you focus on a lecture and really absorb all the information, if your having a conversation with a friend on Facebook Chat simultaneously? For some reason my lap top does not get internet connection in my Sociology Lecture room and I’m totally ok with that. I take detailed notes and constantly participate. If people looked up from their lap top screens and actually listened to what the professor was saying, they’d want to participate too. 

Something that really stayed with me from the video was when the women, Rachel Dretzin, discussed how all her children and her husband can be home but at the same time be in their own sort of “internet bubble.” This is exactly how it is at my house. My mom actually moved my sister’s computer into the kitchen one day, so she’d be less likely to go on Video chat or Facebook with people all around who could see her. 

On a separate note, the video also discussed how the internet can be a positive thing--- and the important skills one will acquire by growing up around this technology. The reality is, both my grandma and my mom have no idea how to do half the things I can do on the internet. I set up a Facebook account for my mom and she ended up deleting it because she said it brought her too much stress and she had know idea how to work it. Then one day when I showed her my blog/online portfolio, her only response was, “how do you know how to do all this?” No one taught me how to set up a blog, a Facebook, or an online portfolio---I just figured it out. Is it possible that older generations are so far behind that it is almost too late to catch up now? This was a very intriguing point brought up by the video and I’m not sure if my parents/grandparents can “catch up” per-say, but they’ll certainly try. 

I am both thankful and frustrated by the technology accessible to my generation. Facebook is not a social network, it is another social world. It is actually considered abnormal for anyone in my generation to not be on Facebook. This frustrates me. However, programs like Photoshop and Indesign are awesome, and I’ve learned so much by being introduced to this kind of technology at an early age. My generation is both lucky and at risk because of these tremendous technology advances.