Digital Nation, produced by Frontline for PBS, is a documentary that showcases how digitally wired and technology dependent that our lives have become. It focuses mainly on the lives of young children and college students, which is the generation which has grown up with this technology. The documentary is organized around nine chapters which focus on multitasking, the addiction of online gaming, the use of technology in the classroom, the effects of technology upon academic performance, building and maintaining digital relationships, the semi-reality of virtual worlds, and the future of technologies that will impact us all. I found this documentary to be highly enlightening. As a forty-six year old male, I did not grow up in a wired fashion, but I have adapted to, and readily adopted, all of the latest technologies being introduced in such a whirlwind pace. Like the children and young adults in the documentary, I find that I am lost without my Blackberry, laptop, iPod, PDA, eReader, and FaceBook connection. Even now, I am considering the purchase of an iPad to even further connect me to this giant wired world that we all inhabit.
Digital media and technology have certainly affected our ideas of socialization. It used to be that our attitudes, values, and behaviors were formed through the small community in which we lived. This community was composed of parents, grandparents, family members, neighborhood friends, educators, and peer learners. With the inception of computers and related technologies, this sphere of influence greatly increased because the enormity of the world became a much smaller place. Today, digital media and technology play a large part in expanding our circle of influence, helping us to develop our concept of self in both positive and negative fashions. On a positive note, technology has greatly increased our access to other peoples and cultures which greatly expands our appreciation for cultures and ideas, other than our own. As with everything else, however, this technology can pose a threat to our security and well being, but through proper education and utilization we can remain safe consumers of technology.
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