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The internet offers users a new way of digesting information. Instead of following logical steps such as alphabetical filing systems, the internet provides users the ability to swiftly switch from one information source to another. It is the hyperlink which has allowed this shift in the way users consume information.
The creator of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, recognised that the human mind does not function in the same way as the physical filing systems we have created to store information. As Vannevar Bush commented: minds are not linear, instead, the human mind is able to recall information through association. These can be sensory associations for example touch, taste or smell, or emotional associations. The internet can be seen as a method of digitally connecting information in the same way that it occurs in the synapses of the brain.
Internet users are now able to surf a huge amount of information. However, because of the mass of information available it is mostly picked at and skimmed. The amount of information read in depth is diminishing in size and we are becoming a nation of skimmers, only picking the minimal information needed. The internet encourages our human nature to be distracted and move from one obsession to another one. Our inability to concentrate is shown in the way news stories are presented. For a moment we are interested in Michael Jackson, then Katie Price, then the 'War on Terror'. The effect of this characteristic being encouraged is unknown, however, it is possible that our ability to retain information will also become lacking as our reliability on the internet as an external memory bank increases.
This idea of the network effect was first introduced by Theodor Vale. It was this theory of inter connection, that informed the creation of the internet. It was the same theory that allowed for the explosion of social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook and Bebo. As founder, Mark Zuckerberg explains, he wants to 'change the way the world works'. This is already visible today. If Facebook were a country it would ranked 3rd largest in terms of population size. This is one demonstration of the power this site holds. Connections on this scale give an indication of how interconnected we may become in the future. We are possibly on our way to being worldwide socialisers. Whatever we post on our own walls – thoughts, links, quotes, secrets – all our facebook “friends” are able to not only see what mood we are in, but also officially stalk our social lives by viewing the numerous pictures we upload. Question that remains is: are we losing touch with the real world?
The BBC are now conducting an online experiment to try and understand the different ways that people choose to use the internet, as well as their skill as an internet user. To keep it all funny and light hearted they have assigned animals to the categories. Get involved and see which web animal you are!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/
REFERENCE
BBC (2010) “the virtual revolution 4: Homo interneticus” [online] available fromhttp://bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution [27th February 2010]
6 comments:
The blog is so well written and even more I agree to the author's view completely. Gone were the times, when kids/adults say they are addicted to TV, coffee, exercise and so on and so forth, but now kids as young as 10/12 years say they are addicted to Facebook! Well... one could say the world is becoming a smaller place but are we doing it at the expense of privacy! But again, we as the user do have the freedom to chose if we want to publicize every minute detail of our private life on social networking sites!
7 March 2010 at 16:47Well.. at the end of it.. everything works well for the social networking sites, gone are those times when only 20-35 year olds were on Facebook, now we have even parents and grandparents on Facebook, either to 'Socialize' or 'to snoop' on their kids. At the end of it, it does prove that we humans are social creatures, but as of today, I would say we are social creatures, who instead of reading newspapers in the morning, log onto facebook for 'news' (who is saying what and why). It would be interesting to know how much time each of us spend on Facebook on an average everyday!
Thank you Nisha for your comment!
7 March 2010 at 19:33Not only youth (~12 years) is addicted to internet/facebook etc but also us (students for example), we usually can't imagine a day without internet and if something happens and we don't have access to it, we feel like some part of us been taken away..
And as for the time spent on facebook, there are several researches conducted on this topic. Take a look at this article here you can find some interesting info about the average time spent on facebook. According to the author for Facebook, we can see the distribution graph follow the standard pattern until we get to the 9+ hours a month visitors, when the curve starts to go up relatively dramatically.
We can see that people spend a lot hours connected to facebook.
I enjoyed reading your post :)
7 March 2010 at 20:58To answer your question, no I don't really think we are losing touch with the real world because of our obsession with Facebook. The video did mention that despite the high number of "friends" we have on Facebook, the actual number of real friends whom we are close with in real life is actually very small. I can personally relate to this as most of my Facebook "friends" are mere acquaintances whom i've met once or twice, or old school friends whom I haven't met for ages. Only a handful are close friends whom I still maintain regular, offline contact with because the need to connect with real people in the real world still exists.
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Sophia completely agree...
8 March 2010 at 22:04Do you really think that one day sites like facebook or online communities following famous people like twitter can controle our lifes? Or that we'll switch off our real life to change it for a virtual one?
Nope, I don't think so. At least for me, that will never happen! I still want to live my REAL life and I'd never exchange it for a virtual one, even if that's technically possible in the futuristic world. To me, we have the freedom to choose and decide how much time and energy we want to dedicate to our virtual lives. Our virtual communities cannot control us if we don't allow them to.. why should we? We are ultimately still in control of our own lives. In the age of consumer empowerment, we have more freedom and more choices than the previous generation ever had.. so we can actively and consciously be a part of something in the virtual world, but the virtual world doesn't make all of who we are.
13 March 2010 at 19:02I am agree with you Sophia,I don’t think so the social sites like Facebook, Twitter can control our life if we don’t give them the chance to do it. This kind of sites take what we write in our profile and they use it, but fortunately people still have their reason and their consciousness, they are aware about the consequences so if i want to keep my life private. I don’t show myself…That’s it…
14 March 2010 at 22:01Post a Comment