Reflective portfolio
When I first found out
that I was going to be taking a network media based module I had a rough and
kind of basic idea of what I would be learning and I found that this would be a
new interesting subject to learn.
My first impressions
on this course was it was going to be creative using the Internet such as
creating web sites, blogs and basically exploring the uses and development of
the internet.
In my network media
workshops we would be touching topics such as web 2.0, pychogeographical
project, remix culture, and the public sphere and whilst learning these we
would be documenting them down in the blog we created. These where subjects I
had never heard of but was egger to found out what it was about.
After the 30 weeks of
my network media workshop I realised that there is more to it that I initially
taught and at the same time it made me think more about new media and its
development, also the way it has evolved around me.
New media consist of
the ever-developing technology that has been the main attraction in this day
and age, the new technology that our generation have been brought around are
things such as, smart phones, laptops / computers, video games and consoles and
elements of social networks.
This was in relation
to one of my essays and workshop, during the workshop it was more like an eye
opener, because of the questions asked I realised how much I have been consumed
by the new media age in the year leading up to university at one point I owned
all new media technology such as an blackberry, Xbox, laptop, computer and at
the same time I had roughly signed up to every social network.
A normal start to the
day for me work be to wake up and first thing is check my phone, for any new
updates, such as messages or any missed calls then log onto my laptop and visit
all my social network site and information sites and then I will spend all day
on social networks such as facebook and twitter and the only breaks taken was
to consume food other than that it was internet based which I think it was
creating a dent in my social life. It caused me to prefer staying inside on my
laptop rather than meeting with my mates, which I believe, is in relation to
‘the eight traits of the new media landscape’ by Henry Jenkins and in my case it
has become an everyday trait, Jenkins says ‘our family rooms have become home
entertainment centres. Our family hearths are now electronic. Media
technologies are fully integrated into our everyday social interactions’. This
trait creates a fixation, a wedge between families and isolates them from the
environment and people around you.
When I read through
this article in university I set myself a little task to reduce the use of any
of my new media technology for a week and see if I could survive. After a week I realised that I really
didn’t rely on new media technology to enjoy myself, it caused me to be more
sociable with the people around me but it kept me out of the blue with my mates
in other parts of London.
In conclusion there
are many pros and cons to the ever evolving new media and its generation but
new media is always developing and is becoming more of an addiction for younger
people, speaking from experience and this is going to be a continues cycle because
there are always new technologies being worked on to make it better than the
previous, which leads into a sense of convergence adding a lot of different components
into one device such as a smart phone where you can access every social site
such as twitter on the go. Developments such as this add to the addiction.
Jenkins. H (2006) Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape [WWW] http://henryjenkins.org/2006/11/eight_traits_of_the_new_media.html (accessed 26/04/12)