Digital Media and Society (Blog Response 1)

Digital media has become a crucial tool in our society. Today, mostly every thing we do involves digital media. A lot of people access digital media, whether it is on a computer or on a smartphone. To me, digital media are tools that we can engage in conversation on, tools we can use that connects us to the Internet at anywhere, at any time. 

The American culture is shaped by digital tools. Postman says that “tools become the culture”, and I agree with this because the majority of people have smartphones, and a lot of people are on social media. I can’t watch TV without the channel trying to get me involved with some kind of discussion. As I am writing this, there is a show on the History Channel, and there is a hashtag in the bottom right corner. Why do they want me to engage so much? Can’t I just watch the TV program in peace? Postman says that “the main characteristic of all tool-using cultures is that their tools were largely invented to do two things: to solve specific and urgent problems of physical life” (Postman, 23). Do digital media solve these problems?  Some would argue “yes”, and others would differ.

Smart phones are a good example of digital media that people use to interact with other people. Because there is a new platform for human interaction, society is changing. Although the smartphone itself is not digital media, the applications ran on the phone are digital media. We can access websites, social media sites, video, and audio all on a smart phone. Smart phones have also changed society today by making everything faster. We can do everything from getting answers to a question, to ordering a Chipotle order so we don’t have to stand in line, almost instantly. Because we can do these things relatively fast, the impact of this technology will affect consumers. This doesn’t always have a positive impact. Because we can Google information so easily, it is not necessary for us to retain the info we read because we can always refer back to it. Since we are getting used to the speed of things, people have the potential to have little patience for things that take time. 

Article on smartphone use and society