Week Two
I had many thoughts about this weeks lecture, but this blog is about the main discussion point that I thought was the most interesting was the idea of audiences now being users or "produsers". This is because we can now control what we read and consquently what we learn. It is almost like those novels one used to read as a child, where one could "choose the story", where one was encouraged to "turn to page 80 to enter the cave" and so on.
Using online hyperlinks, we move quickly from text to sound to video to pictures on a variety of different websites. We gain information quickly from a variety of sources in a variety of different ways, and this can be a little or a lot-very relevant or very not. This is one of the advantages of "new" or "digital" media. We are actively encouraged to "seek more". Another example is the "red button" icon on digital television. It is always in the corner of the screen offering us new and more information.
One questions that this thirst for knowledge in different and new forms extends into real life. We cant just press on a word in a novel that we dont understand and gain a meaning or talk to others or the author directly about the text, while onlnie one can do this, as well as gaining so much more information than originally wanting through search engines and links, I believe that we now expect so much more than just words on a page, or a television programme with no interactivity.
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I'm a bit torn about if it's a good or a bad thing that you can 'just press on a word we don't understand' online etc etc. It makes learning so much easier than trawling through hundereds of books just for a few pieces of info...but i don't know if that's a good thing or not. wWhat do you think?
ReplyDeleteMy dad (70+) hates it....he just sits there going 'slow down! I can't keep up! Why do you keep clicking on stuff so fast?' and doesn't seem to realise that it's how most people who use the internet jump around and find stuff. It's painful to watch him slowly read through everything on a page before deciding it's useless!
I think its a good thing, because we have learnt to live like that. And it does make learning alot quicker, however, it could be debated as to whether or not the speed and ease of access to this information is a good thing. We could be losing out on vital reading, research and so on skills. I guess we will never know until everybody in the world is used to learning, living and researching in this way?
ReplyDeleteYeah I guess that we are so used to it...I can;t imagine using the internet like my Dad does (reading all of everything). In fact it's probably shaped how I read books etc too....I find it very hard to read ALL of one thing and just flick from here to there as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteI also think what you said about hypertext in interactive TV is interesting...I had only thought about it in terms of the internet.
In reply to Ellie:
ReplyDeleteYes, I also think there could be a problem with most people getting used to info "served up" for them. Empowering people is about getting them to develop the skills that 'get behind' the easily achieved. Demanding things on our terms results in our inability to deal with things on others' terms -that way lies misunderstanding and vulnerability to partial views of the world (it also will lose you a job as a professional communicator). So it's pretty important all round!