Then, Now and Later
Ever since I was a child, my mum encouraged me and my siblings to play outside, play board games and play with actual physical toys. Mind you there are five of us, so growing up was a blast. I remember walking into maths in year 9 and seeing a class mate have a white rectangular object turned upside down on her desk. That was the first time I saw the IPhone, and at that time I had no idea what it was. I've never had Facebook; my parents have never wanted me to have it. I currently frequently use Snapchat, Instagram and now Twitter to keep in touch with friends and also illustrate my thoughts, what I'm doing and events I go to.
I am glad I was bought up this way to be honest, I do not like having to be constantly around gadgets. I've never been one to join groups online, shop online, etc. I try to limit or at least be careful how I present my online identity, as everything can't 'fully' be deleted. This generation is about having an online identity, integrating a gamified atmosphere to reality, updating technology whilst converging, and being famous through our virtual reality. Still, there are limitations to it all, like when apps automatically update without us wanting it to.
Screenshot of Prezi about online identities, collaborated in class, retrieved 15 April 2016
Likewise, we watch films and read stories about what it was like generations ago, I mean just 137 years ago did Thomas Edison invent the light bulb (Energy.gov, 2013). Look at how much we have advanced. Back then we worried about not enough light, now we fear how much likes we get on an Instagram photo. I discussed about the pros and cons of online identity with some people from my digital media class and its impact on our everyday life. Yes, we have the chance to show a different side of ourselves and feel a part of something major. Though, what if we are showing a side that isn’t really us? Doesn’t that mean we are being fake? Individuals can let social media consume them but only if they allow it.
Screenshot of a tweet I posted about how Google gamified it's workplace, retrieved 20 April 2016
These days, we are learning to apply new innovations into our daily lives, so it can assist us better. The company Google has a way of providing enjoyment and an exciting environment for its workers, because it appears to enhance their working abilities. They strategically integrated gamification as a way for ‘employees to give travel costs on a systematic basis’ (Coy, 2015, para. 14), which was successfully achieved. The Google company employed an ‘emergent strategy that has moved with a shifting reality’ (Fox, 2014, pp. 31). By using gamification in the workforce, it has both helped the economy and bought fun to their workers. Therefore, we can aim to use new ways of the media to assist us for the reality that is always changing.
Screenshot of a Twitter post of a Youtube video I found, retrieved 16 April 2016
I tweeted a YouTube video about new innovations expected to arise around 2019. It mainly eliminates computers and Iphones. Watching this was like having the future flash before my eyes and I didn't like it. I guess one main reason is because I'm used to having my phone on me and typing on a keyboard. They’re coming up with ‘fresh concepts’ that aim to benefit us so our ‘beliefs are altered' (Fuery, 2009, pp. 4). When a new Mac book is released and the majority of your friends go buy it, you go and follow. The reason for this: we don’t want to be left behind, we have to keep moving forward. Imagine if we never updated the first telephone, or transitioned away from typewriters?
Screenshot of a Twitter post of an edited photo I took, retrieved 15 April 2016
New ideas are constructed from our values of society along with past experiences. We even have the ability to combine the old and new together for a superior online interaction. It ‘used to be believed that convergence was media being distributed by the home computer, yet as Tim Dwyer puts it, convergence is now new media being illustrated through multimedia’ (2010, pp.12). Such as, newspaper companies are utilising multiple mediums to report their stories to a wider audience. They’ll use newspapers both paper and online, as well as social media platforms like Twitter, to get to their audience faster. Combining the old and new demonstrates to us what it was like to use old technology generations ago, yet through an updated way, such as the following augmented photo I took. There is a decent thing about this digital generation. We don’t have to be a celebrity to have the camera on us.
Screenshot of my Instagram post of a photo I captured, retrieved 15 April 2016
We can make ourselves known just from Vlogging or photos of food and cafes on an Instagram feed. David Marshall proposes that the ‘presentation of one’s character is a serious element of their image to the public’ (2010, pp. 39). Though he is particularly emphasizing on celebrities, we can relate because we are somewhat a ‘celebrity’ on our own social media accounts. We live in a time where we constantly update, like and share content with the online world. The more this occurs for us, the more well-known we become, either locally (such as through friends) or globally (posting photos of important things on Instagram). Besides, we like this since receiving likes or subscribers lifts our spirits, as it feels more that people are liking the way we uniquely portray ourselves. For this reason, we want it to perfect our identity in some way. On the other hand, we have to use these new media platforms the right way.
Screenshot of selfies of myself from my phone gallery, retrieved 15 April 2016
I love taking selfies before I go out, I want the camera focused on me after spending time and effort getting ready for an event. Before I got my phone, I still did this using my digital camera, yet that was a time when I had no way of displaying them to anyone, unless someone were to flick through my photo albums. However now that we can post images online, as well as quick editing them, the photos ‘don’t illustrate our emotional state or exposure. With the lack of direct closeness (Agger, 2015, pp.13), we can misinterpret how a message is being sent from the sender. This is a common issue that most of us complain about when we mention the future of social media, yet something that can’t seem to be changed since we are dependent on it.
One things for sure, some of us hate change. Yet through it we grow, learn and experience. Combining this, our involvement with technology and the online world, is the addiction of us wanting more of it. We are in a new mediated generation, an active generation.
Will my children's childhood be like mine?
References:
Agger, B 2015, Oversharing: Presentations of Self in the Internet Age, Routledge, New York.
Coy, C 2015, 5 Companies Using Gamification to Boost Business Results, Corner Stone on Demand, retrieved 19 April 2016, https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/rework/5-companies-using-gamification-boost-business-results.
Dwyer, T 2010, Media Convergence, Open University Press, England.
Energy.gov 2013, The History of the Lightbulb, energy.gov, retrieved 13 April 2016, <http://energy.gov/articles/history-light-bulb>.
Fox, J 2014, The Game Changer, Wiley, retrieved 19 April 2016, http://deakin.eblib.com.au.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1602762.
Fuery, Kelli 2009, New Media: Culture & Image, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
Marshall, David 2010, The Promotion and Presentation of the Self: Celebrity as marker of presentational media, Celebrity Studies, vol. 1, no. 1.