Posts Tagged: truth

1. How do technology and mass communication relate to each other and is social media included in this definition of technology?

The reading explains that producing mass media to massive audiences is a fairly new idea. The printing press has been around for several hundred years; however, “the technologies for recording, preserving, and transmitting sounds and moving images appeared much more recently”, according to our textbook. The “penny press” was the first to produce newspapers to mass audiences. The book states that the beginning of the modern newspaper era “can be seen as the dawn of American mass communication”. The invention of steam engines and the telegraph during the Industrial Revolution also led to technological development.

America has progressed in technology extremely fast. At the turn of the 20th century, magazines, books, printed advertising, the phonograph, motion picture cinemas, and radio all were introduced and were fighting for America’s attention. Ever since then, we have been growing into a technological power house. New things are being developed everyday.

I enjoyed reading about the history of America’s technology. I find it extremely interesting to see where we have come from and it makes me excited to think about where we are going. As far as the “social media” aspect of my question, I think that our technology is getting extremely advanced. However, I do not consider social media a type of technology. I do, however, feel that the tools that are use to participate in social media will get more advanced. Who knows what the next step will be after having Facebook and Twitter on cell phones, but I am excited for the future.

2. Does an active audience think about theory the way that we are interactive media artists do? How do we interpret what an active audience is looking for in media?

I think I have come to discover that an audience does not thinking about theory whenever they are choosing a medium or when they are involved in the media. They actively seek out which medium best suits their needs and represents what they are trying to discover. I think we, as designers, can only conduct research to discover what it is that an active audience is looking for. I feel like different audiences uses different mediums at different points in time. A designer simply needs to keep up with the trends and conduct research to discover what it is that their target audience is looking for.

3. Do all of the theories mentioned in the chapters relate to each other in some way? What theory is best suitable for an audience in interactive media?

I have come to discover than no theory in particular is the perfect theory for an audience. I do, however, think that all the theories coincide with each other in some way. I feel like whenever you are working with a specific audience, research is the best way to start. A designer/developer can theorize about something all day; however, until they conduct the research, the theory is worthless.

In response to my classmate’s question of “Who is ultimately responsible for conveying the truth to the public?”, this is an interesting question to ask. I could ponder it for a long time. However, in today’s culture, I think that the government and the media try to convey the “truth” the American public. However, what do we really define as the truth? Also, can we ever really know what the truth is? I feel like sometimes we only know what we are told. This is a scary though, especially in today’s world. Should we all just follow and tell what we believe to be true? Maybe we should rely on anyone else to tell us the truth. Maybe we should be telling the truth for ourselves. Interesting question to ponder.