This post is motivated by one of the most recent features that has been added to Facebook; the ability to comment on a majority of the different news feed items. Somebody posts an interesting video to one of their friends wall and all of a sudden there is a round table discussion involving 20 different people about its content.
However; this post is not about Facebook but about the concept of increasing the speed of communication. I'm not going to pretend like I can cover the history of how communication has increased over the years or whether or not it has been beneficial or detrimental to society but I think it is important to try and understand how new and different forms of communication affect the way we interact with each other.
Imagine what it was like before we were able to communicate across oceans instantly. When the first Americans declared indepnedence and started the revolutionary war they did not just call King George on the phone and say 'screw you we are out.' They had to send a boat all the way across the north atlantic ocean to give him the finger. Entire naval wars would be fought even after peace was made just because they would have no way of communicating with each other.
I think this is important because there has to be something beneficial about increasing the speed of communication. We can better communicate about how to cure diseases, come to resolutions during disputes, and most importantly are less susceptible to misinformation campains by any organization be it motivated by money or ideology.
However, I would be a very biased blogger if I did not consider the negative affects that access to distance communication has on our interpersonal communication and relations. It's not something that I have easily accepted. I grew up as the first generation to actively communicate over instant messanger. Facebook was in beta my freshman year and only avaliable to a small section of colleges - Kansas State , my alma mater, was one of the first 50. Naturally I was quick to become one of its members and watched it grow to become the 6th most visited website in the world.
I think people have a very good point when they argue that certain technologies have distanced us physically, but have they distanced us socially? What about people that are normally very shy in public situations and find the internet as a vital tool in their ability to communicate with others that are similar to them. Who are we to say that they should conform to our form of communication or social norms?
It reminds me of the rise of the blogging movement in China where citizens would bounce their IP's off of Canadian servers just to post to the rest of the world and other Chinese citizens about thier lives inside of China. I feel like this unprecedented speed of communication can definetly be used to liberate people and give other a voice that would not otherwise have one; but there is clearly something invaluable to meeting another individual face to face and shacking thier hand.
At the end of the day just because we add another form of communication does not meant that it necessarily trades off with how we currently communicate; just that it adds another avenue for us to reach people we would not have touched otherwise.
I think this is important because there has to be something beneficial about increasing the speed of communication. We can better communicate about how to cure diseases, come to resolutions during disputes, and most importantly are less susceptible to misinformation campains by any organization be it motivated by money or ideology.
However, I would be a very biased blogger if I did not consider the negative affects that access to distance communication has on our interpersonal communication and relations. It's not something that I have easily accepted. I grew up as the first generation to actively communicate over instant messanger. Facebook was in beta my freshman year and only avaliable to a small section of colleges - Kansas State , my alma mater, was one of the first 50. Naturally I was quick to become one of its members and watched it grow to become the 6th most visited website in the world.
I think people have a very good point when they argue that certain technologies have distanced us physically, but have they distanced us socially? What about people that are normally very shy in public situations and find the internet as a vital tool in their ability to communicate with others that are similar to them. Who are we to say that they should conform to our form of communication or social norms?
It reminds me of the rise of the blogging movement in China where citizens would bounce their IP's off of Canadian servers just to post to the rest of the world and other Chinese citizens about thier lives inside of China. I feel like this unprecedented speed of communication can definetly be used to liberate people and give other a voice that would not otherwise have one; but there is clearly something invaluable to meeting another individual face to face and shacking thier hand.
At the end of the day just because we add another form of communication does not meant that it necessarily trades off with how we currently communicate; just that it adds another avenue for us to reach people we would not have touched otherwise.
i really like texting.
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