FaceTime in the 1960’s.

When I was a kid, I remember looking through my dad’s illustrated World Book Encyclopedia from 1969. In a section featuring artist renditions of “the future,” I found an illustration of someone enjoying a conversation on their telephone. Next to the handset was a small computer screen, featuring the face of whoever was on the other end of the line. “Before you know it,” my dad said, looking over my shoulder, “that’s how we’ll talk to people on the phone.”

He was right. Less than fifteen years later, that’s how we talk to people. Well, that’s one way we can talk to people, if we so choose. Today, it’s not even necessary for a smartphone user to have WiFi access to FaceTime on the iPhone. So, if technology is evolving this quickly, what sorts of technologies will we have access to in the next fifteen years?

Who knows? But, as Nancy Baym wisely reminds us, it’s important for us to remember how we should react to the arrival of new technologies. We don’t need to worry so much about whether or not they are good or bad. Instead, in her words, “We need to  understand the social dynamics into which technologies are introduced and in which they play out.” Thankfully, many have already begun to realize this. However, future generations, also, must adopt attitudes of understanding and adaptation. Because, in Baym’s words, “Technologies do not arise from blank slates. They are first developed and deployed in social and cultural contexts.” This, first and foremost, is the lesson we must learn well, and teach the next generation.

It’s also important for us to understand that digital natives are, and will continue to be, more adept in grasping current issues regarding technologies than we might think. For instance, the public seems to assume that the tech-savy youth of today don’t care about their privacy online. However, in Boyd and Hargittai’s study on Facebook privacy, the researchers’ findings suggested that most younger users were both knowledgable and concerned about these issues. They say, “…it may appear that all is fine regarding related issues on Facebook since many young adult users are actively managing their profile’s public access.” They acknowledge that their study is only the beginning of overcoming our assumptions about how people think about privacy online. However, if their findings continue to prove true, maybe it’s time we focused the discussion about social media and online interactions toward how to wield these tools for maximum professional and personal success instead of worrying quite so much.

            More people in today’s society are using cell phones and the internet to communicate with their friends and family than ever before. Adults and young individuals consist of a large amount of this technology-controlled group. In fact, according to the BBC interview between Danah Boyd and Aleks Krotoski, young people usually use their Facebook accounts to expose their social vulnerability to others. However, if they did not have one, people would wonder what they were trying to hide from the viewing public. Also, Aaron Smith recorded in his findings that up to 83% of American adults own some kind of cell phone. It is almost scary that technology that did not even exist a couple of decades ago has come to play such a vital role in our society.

            Because Facebook and cell-phone-based conversations have become so important or common-place in today’s culture, the possibility of using either as references is constantly escalating. While this could prove to some individuals that certain bloggers are willing to make themselves vulnerable, it goes without saying that this could come with enormous risks. The risks include identity theft, mistaken identity, and increased “slamming” or cyber-bullying. Each of these is a problem that could easily become worse within the next 5 to 20 years if insufficient safeguards are used to do something about it.

Baym-Baym suggests that those individuals that did not grow up with the internet will continue to minimize the importance of it along with the usage of cellphones. Further, noting that along with being, “savvy interpreters of the messages in popular medial and interactions instead of taking them at face value.” By this I think we are in to realize that we cannot take all blogs, FB Posts, or SMS communication to heart and will have to work harder at clear, concise communication through technology.

Smith evaluates the usage of cell phones, particularly comparing smartphone users to regular cellphone users. What was interesting here was the gap of internet activity from each type of user with contributing factors such as age and ethnicity. One key factor to why 83% of Americans are using smart phones is to have quick access to the information that they need. Communication is the driver for the success and desire to have a cellphone of any type. However, the luxuries of internet, text, and mobile phone access are favorable by young ages 18-29 are using all functions of the phones features, while older people are not utilizing the features to their full potential.

boyd & Hargittai address the issue of privacy. This is a huge issue that is affiliated with the “e” world as a whole. More than ever people are exchanging personal/private/intimate information rapidly with a large audience. Facebook is one of the larger SNS’s available for individuals to self disclose. The issue of privacy did not become big until Facebook’s appeal to businesses and apps came about. With the extension of employers and businesses using the social network to reach consumers, the limit of sharing was basically Friends, Friends of Friends, No one, or specific Networks specified by the users. However, with the implementation of Apps, Marketing, News Feeds, & Like buttons users are now connected more than ever. Facebook offers the users privacy options but the “settings” are questionable. Most high traffic users of Facebook do not limit their privacy because they are sending and receiving the information they want. Therefore, they are willing to dismiss the privacy issue.

After reading the articles above the main problems we will see grow in 5 years is the interest in technology. There are so many versions of computers, cellphones, and within each piece of technology 1,000’s of options to communicate with friends, strangers, and family. It will be challenging to keep the users engaged and we will become more distracted. The communication ties and quality of relationships are also going to be in a test to see if the users will still be connected with the same people

In Conclusion Baym points out that the internet was not originally designed for interpersonal communications. People took advantage of the affordable technology and transformed it into a social resource. she also points out that technologies are created to foster meaningful personal connections.

In the Pew Internet study Aron Smith details his find with the evolving use of mobile phones. In the study he found both positive and negatives with determining peoples use for their mobile phone. He found that mobile phones can provide: quick access to information, safety in emergency situations. However most people need need a break from their phone since it provides access to many CMC type technologies.

I think  CMC technologies will continue to grow. It seems like there is always some new device with built in apps to help better manage you social networks. Technology is bringing people more and more ways to communicate online which could led to f2f social problems as the lack of using body language or social cues. Also another question i have is kids today being born in a world filled with technology. How early will kids start interacting with these technologies.

With regards to communication on the internet and new technologies, these reading suggest that the issues society will face deal with privacy, archived personal information, and trust. These issues will be significantly affected by how individuals define private information and how they feel about personal information online. As technology advances and online communication becomes more prevalent and accepted in society, more people are concerned about its effect on privacy and on their lives.

Older adults and young people have different definitions of what constitutes private information and the importance of keeping certain information private. For older adults identifying personal information such as your name, address, phone number, etc. should be kept private. However, young adults see no harm in sharing personal information. Young adults are more concerned with their online image and how they will be perceived by other online users.

Along with the fear of sharing personally identifying information is the concern that the information will be permanently accessible. The fear of people being able to go back and gain access to this archived information makes some people uncomfortable. Although it is common for people to grow and change, they might be held accountable in their adult years for information put on the internet earlier in their lives. Yet, advances and use of technology such as cell and smart phones are creating a requirement for archived personal information. Is it possible to trust that these archives will not hurt rather than help?

I believe we will see these same problems and fears in the next 5 and 20 years. However, due to growing privacy concerns, we will see the development of more sophisticated technology to protect individual private information and, at the same time, more effectively and discriminately able to share information with selected recipients. Although the above issues pose problems, the opportunities associated with them can prove beneficial. The use of the archived information can shed light into internet use and about how to improve upon its current functions.

Smith (2011) argued that there are many advantages can be found to cell phones users such as: getting quick information, using it on emergency situation and for entertainment, and preventing them from having unwanted interactions with people. At the same time, cell phone may cause people to get frustrated when it takes too long to download something. Smith also noted the numerous opportunities Smart Phones added to people’s life where it can be used for texting, going online, sending photos or videos, downloading applications, accessing the internet, using social networking such as Facebook or Twitter, and YouTube, and many more. On the other side, people who use smart phones more often may have trouble accomplishing desired tasks when their phones are not available.

            Boyd and Hargittai (2010) noted that youth do not care or engaged with managing the setting of privacy on Facbook, and that there is no differences between men and women in how they manage their Facebook settings. Boyd and Hargittai also argued that many teens were scared ,especially girls, and wanted to protect, but if they learned the some skills in how to manage their privacy setting on MySpace when teens can make them feel more confidence when they go to college to manage their Facebook privacy setting. After all, the companies consider how default privacy settings and changes in these setting can affect population differently

            Baym (2010) asserted that some people might have fears CMC and the use of internet may “damage the ability to face-to face conversations, degrade language. Undermines our connections to our communities and families, and replaces meaningful relationships” (150), however, today, most people think that CMC strengthen their connections with their families and friends. Also because it is faster and cheaper to use the internet for socializing, more people are interacting with each other 24/7 from all over the world, more volunteer groups are available to help support all individuals in our society. After all people can choose the way to interact and make their balance between the old and new media. Overall, both Baym and danah boyd BBC interview are optimistic and assured that the key to continue using CMC and internet successfully would by balancing what we do and how we do it and in what way.

            From all the above readings we can conclude that despite of the fears people used to think about the CMC and internet use that is damaging the language, social interactions, and privacy, it seems that there are more advantages than disadvantages that forces people to think more positively about their future with all the new media.

The findings of Smith in the Pew study were no surprise. Once again we see that individuals under 30 and those with at least some college education are more likely to use mobile technologies. However, I was surprised to see pictures catching up with text messages at a 92% rate.

“Would be forecasters often forget that human societies coevolve with technology” (Raine & Wellman, 2012, p.276). This quote from our readings this week pretty much sums up my feelings about the discourse within computer medicated technology and where we are heading in the future. There is so much doomsday rhetoric in our society about the role of technology and the degradation of “real” communication as a result, but our readings this semester have provided research to combat that argument. There’s an old saying that necessity is the mother of invention, and we are the reason these technologies are coming to fruition. Take the Lifelogging technology that is talked about in the Raine & Wellman reading, it seems like science fiction, but is it really different than the way we currently document our lives? Instagram and Facebook currently use their photo hosting to keep track of your location, the event date and time and keep it all in chronological order for you, so lifelogging seems like an expansion on the same thought process.

The concern we need to have in the privacy of our information once its loaded into these mediums. The boyd & Hargittai reading confirmed that Facebook users are aware of their privacy settings, and manage them actively. However, with news breaking daily of hackers stealing credit cards numbers in mass from store databases and the CISPA, how much will adjusting our privacy settings matter?

The next few years will be exciting and frightening as our memories are cataloged in chronological order or us but also as our information becomes more vulnerable. As I mentioned in other classmate’s comment section, one of the more exciting things I’ve seen recently is 3D printing. However, I’ve also read an article recently on how this technology could be used to make weapons in the home. All of this is enough to make one’s paranoia spin out of control, but we have to keep in mind all of the pros of technology we now take for granted. For example, instead of being bound to a classroom at least one night a week for 12 weeks, we got to use these blog posts to facilitate our academic conversations.

The internet has evolved so much that we use it every chance we get, cell phones, tablets, ipads. Smith (2011) mentioned a lot of stats regarding internet usage, especially in regard to our mobile devices. It said that 51% of users use their phone at least once a day to retrieve information fast. I am guilty of that, any time I do not know something I want to know something fast I google on my phone. At first it was simple things, but know I use it for EVERYTHING! My fiance pokes fun at me because he says that I am a google addict. I am also guilty of using the phone as a distraction because of boredom. It is not surprising to me that  I can relate to most of the statistics provided. I fall  in the category of young adults between the ages of 18-29. In the Boyd interview she says that it is not that kids act differently now because they do everything on the internet rather than the mall or the movies, the only thing different is the space they act in. Kids still do everything they would do in an offline setting such as joke, flirt, get to know people. I guess, it is a different world and it comes with the evolution of technology. There is nothing wrong with it in my opinion, as long as there is a balance with our offline life. You can be a completely normal person who maintains online relationships as well as offline if you find a good balance for your internet usage.

As we’ve studied over this semester, online communication has a huge impact on how people interact with each other. People joke about how “young people” are glued to their iPhones, and they’re mostly right! The internet is “youth space,” and teenagers use it to interact with each other in the same way they used to hang out at the mall. They gossip, flirt, joke, and get to know each other- except that instead of the food court, they’re meeting in a chat room (boyd, 2009). People use online space to build popularity. For example, many teenagers will become obsessed with tweeting famous people, and will brag when they get tweeted back by Miley Cyrus or another celebrity (boyd, 2009).

This internet culture creates issues, and perhaps the biggest one is the longevity of online communication. Instead of just talking in person and having to gossip about what someone said, you can simply post their comment in cyberspace. People are going to be able to relive a job applicant’s entire teenage life through social media archives (boyd, 2009). Adults are afraid that the internet makes it easier for their children to be harmed physically; teenagers are merely afraid of the internet harming their social health. That may be why even teenagers often edit their Facebook privacy settings; they realize that unflattering images and posts about their ex-boyfriends may not help their social lives (boyd & Hargittai, 2010). Of course, we cannot forget the rising rate of smartphone owners. 35% of American adults own a smartphone, allowing them to access online communication sites anywhere This drastically alters the communication atmosphere. Now, applications like Vine and Instagram are encouraging people to stay online- even when they are with friends in person. 72% of smartphone users use their phones for entertainment when they’re bored with real life (Smith, 2011).

While it is hard for these writers to predict the exact problems that will arise in media in the next 5 or 20 years, Baym writes: “We all need to be savvy interpreters of the messages in popular media and interactions instead of taking them at face value” (2010, p. 150). Technology is constantly adapted to come out with something bigger and better, and many new applications and websites are created constantly to help with problems in our real lives. Baym strongly urges people to take a step back and evaluate the internet communication tools they use. While these tools can be very helpful, balance is key. People need to fully understand how to mix their real life relationships with their internet relationships, and know that it’s not “good vs. evil” – instead, these are all just unique ways to create communication in our busy society.

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.