As I was reading the Smith study, I recalled Vince Vaughn’s opening monologue on Saturday Night Live just a few weeks ago. At one point during his spiel, he took away an audience member’s cell phone and told them it was so they could experience the moment of the show. It’s ironic that though we use cell phones to capture moments (e.g. on Facebook, Twitter, and Instragram), we have a propensity to miss the real-time experiences of those moments because we are too consumed in recording them. I’m guilty of this. Two weeks ago I was so concerned with taking pictures at the top of Diamond Head in Oahu, I almost forgot to put the iPhone away and absorb the view. It is a challenge, as evidenced by the 29% of respondents in the Pew Research study that said they turn their cell phones off for a period of time just to get a break from using it. At FedEx, we use the “Be Here Now” motto to remind ourselves to be present in the moment. All too many times people look down at their Blackberries instead of paying attention to what’s being said in a meeting or during a seminar.
In the boyd BBC interview, boyd mentioned that the interaction between youth that used to happen at the mall and the movies is now happening online. At the heart of her argument, she made the case that computer-mediated communication is not in and of itself good or bad. It’s just different. This is what we’ve talked about all semester long. Rather than focusing on whether CMC is good or bad, our efforts should be aimed at understanding how the technology is being used. In her conclusion, Baym that “there will be new communication technologies which today’s children will find extraordinary and theirs will find mundane.”
boyd also addressed privacy concerns. She explained that young people are concerned with social vulnerability, or self-presentation as I would call it. They don’t want to look bad in front of their peers or be made fun of. A 12 year olds primary goal is to look cool. Adults, meanwhile, consider their physical and psychological vulnerability. We are careful not to post things that could get us fired or information that could open us up to identity theft or other cyber attacks.
I agree the internet is not evil, if it was not for the internet we would not be taking this class online right now. Yes, it has its good and bad, but like you said it depends on the intended usage.
I appreciated your anecdote about reminding yourself to put your phone away and enjoy the view. That part of the Pew study struck me also, and came up again yesterday when I was watching a Louie CK special and he asks his audience to put their phones away and just enjoy the live show. I often have to remind myself at concerts to put my camera down. If I’m watching the whole show on the screen of my phone making sure its taped, what difference is it then just watching it on YouTube or TV?
This same issue was addressed in one of my readings last semester on the phone uploading habits of Facebook users. One of the things that stuck out for me was the finding that documenting the event has become part of the event for the Facebook generation. If they don’t document the event, its almost like it didn’t happen. The lifelogging discussed in our reading seems like science fiction, but we’re already voluntarily engaging in behaviors that promote such software.
No doubt about it. You brought up concerts as an example. I remember a show I attended a few years ago at the Bluesville venue in Tunica. It’s one of those small, intimate type environments. There was this one girl in particular who would not stop recording the performance with her phone right in front of the stage. Aaron Lewis paused and asked her if she was there to enjoy the show or watch it on her phone. Her case was more of the extreme, but many of us do take so many pictures and record so much that we miss the live aspect of things. It’s something even I need to be reminded of sometomes.
I have attended numerous shows where people spend most of the show on their phone. Taking a picture or even videoing a show is crazy kinda crazy because a smart phone can not capture the true essence of being at a live show. You also spent money to see act play not to take pictures.