I thought Tony Guidone had a very interesting presentation. My favorite part was when he brought out the two newspaper articles and the coin to pass around the class. It showed what is lost by using digital media. By that I mean the use of paper and currency is lost through the digital world. I feel as if the physical news and use of currency has become irrelevant due to the fact that they have essentially become nonexistent. From personal experience, my parents no longer get the newspaper due to the fact that the local news and advertisements are free online, and they use credit/debit cards out of convenience. The evolution of digital media can, in my opinion, be seen to be influenced by pure convenience.
Drawing back towards what we have lost due to digital media, I believe the answer is quite clear. We have lost everything physical to the touch, which in a sense can be seen as we have lost touch with the reality of media. According to Bilal Kaiser, we have lost restaurant reviews in the newspaper, phone books, and libraries. However, when he writes this, he does not put it in a negative light, but more in a hopeful one for the future. He does this by saying, “ It goes without saying that as more technological advances come into the mainstream, we’ll start to walk away from the old ways of doing things and step into a new frontier of the human experience. Which is quite exciting… And won’t require you to rewind before returning” (Kaiser 2011)[1].
While
we have lost a physical connection to media, we have also gained something. I
believe we have gained a sense of realization. In her blog, “Simply As That”,
Rebecca Cooper explains what she gained when she lost her social media
addiction. She claimed it was “disconnecting her from the most important things
in life” (Cooper 2018). With this sense of disconnection, her realization grew to
be that she needed a break and she states how she “experienced things more fully,
with all of her senses” (Cooper 2018). She was brought back to the reality that
was lost to digitalization in media[2]. I think that we can use
Rebecca’s experience along with many others’ regarding social media hiatuses to
further our knowledge in the true impact of digital media.
[1] Kaiser, Blial. “7 Things We’ve Lost – and Gained – in the Internet Age.” Legalzoom.com, 21 July 2014, www.legalzoom.com/articles/7-things-weve-lost-and-gained-in-the-internet-age.
[2] Cooper, Rebecca. “What I Gained When I Lost My Social Media Addiction.” Simpleasthatblog.com, 6 May 2018, simpleasthatblog.com/what-i-gained-when-i-lost-my-social-media-addiction/.
