digital media

Barbara defines digital media as technology, social media, TV broadcasts, and anything online that provides information. The Center for Digital Media describes it as a fusion of technology and content, requiring various skills and allowing easy global sharing and access. Barbara's favorite theory is "the medium is the message," which she initially misunderstood but later learned its true meaning and the power of media in shaping thoughts and society. She agrees that media's impact is increasing and discusses how technology and digital media have changed throughout her lifetime, as well as the impact of communication technology and social media on society. Barbara believes that increased use of digital devices has led to decreased face-to-face communication and loss of nonverbal communication, affecting relationships and empathy. She also shares the negative effects of devices on her focus, social interactions, values, self-image, and ability to think. My name is Changyu Mo. Today I will interview my co-worker, Barbara, who is 33 years old. Hi Barbara, could you give me your personal definition of digital media? Sure. In my own words, digital media is about technology, social media, TV broadcasts, anything that we could get information from online. Thank you for the definition, Barbara. That's really impressive. According to the Center for Digital Media, digital media is a fusion of technology and content, and building digital media products requires a professional team and multiple skills, including technical skills, artistic skills, analysis, and production cooperation skills. Digital media often allows content to be easily shared and accessed globally via the Internet, computer networks, digital broadcasts, and mobile devices. My favorite digital media theory to discuss so far is the medium is the message. It's my favorite for a few reasons. First, before I read this article, I was very confused by the title, the medium is the message. Through reading, I learned the true meaning of the medium. In my previous understanding, media seems to be a tool for transmitting information, and for the type of tool, I could only think of electronic products, books, movies, but through study, I developed more thinking. It turns out that electric lights can also be media, planets, patterns, light, and textures. There are many media in life that we are not noticed, which makes me feel very noble. The second reason I like this article is that after reading the article, I learned how powerful the media is. Through the description from the author, media and technology will greatly affect our lives and will deeply change people's thinking and even shape their thoughts. Media become a really powerful force that cannot be ignored in the world, changing people's concepts and thoughts, and also changing the structure of society. In operation and practice, the medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium, that is of any extensions of ourselves, results from a new skill that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves or by any new technology. I think this sentence can best summarize the core idea of this article. The medium is information. It also summarizes that with the development of the times, the development of media is also changing with each passing day. There are more and more types of media. The more, the greater the impact on us. The message of any medium or technology is the change of style, place, or pattern that is introduced into human affairs. The railway did not introduce movement, transport, wealth, or road into human society, but it accelerated and enlarged the scale of previous human functions, creating new kinds of cities and new kinds of work and leisure. This sentence describes the change in media and the impact on our society as technology development. As the author described in the article, the development and expansion of media are constantly changing with the development of technology and time. In today's life, media serves as a medium for transmitting information. With the development of the times, people's opinions spread rapidly in the digital world, and it has become very important to avoid social criticism. Therefore, many people choose to remain silent when they disagree with the majority of people. As a medium for transmitting information, the media silence does not actually allow the media to play a good role. Barbara, does this concept make sense? Do you agree with this concept, and how does it apply to your life today? I think this concept makes sense. I also agree with this concept. I think media is a way to get a message across the impact on us as a whole in increasing day by day, and this is reflected in many aspects of our lives. Thank you, and now it's time for the interview, Barbara. How has technology and digital media changed throughout your lifetime? Well, when I was young, I remember in the past, phones were only used for sending text messages and making calls. Now almost everyone has a smartphone. It is not only a communication tool, but also includes entertainment, shopping, payments, works, etc. We use television, and we have limited channels at the time. But for now, everyone is using Netflix and Hulu, those types of media. Also, TikTok wasn't a thing before, and now it has become really popular with the young generation. Music platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music have changed my life, listening habits as well. Thank you, that's really interesting. How is communication technology like cell phones and social media impact us today? In my opinion, for now, people are more focused on their social media and their phones while they are doing anything, especially the young generation. I see a lot of college students come to our restaurant, and when they eat, they can't take their eyes out of their phone and keep scrolling down. I don't know what they are looking at, maybe TikTok, but they are not communicating with their friends while they are together. I think that's really sad. Also, for now, we receive so many information in one day. I don't think that's a great thing. Even when I do things, I get distracted by notifications from my social media or my Gmail, even just my phone. When I have my phone right next to me, sometimes it's kind of hard for me to focus on my work. Barbara, how do you see the intersection of increased use of digital devices and decreased ability to communicate face-to-face impacting our culture and you? I think digital devices make it easy for people to stay in touch with friends and family far away, but now people rely on social media too much, unlike before when we mostly contact people face-to-face. So I think that's definitely a downside of the use of digital media. Oh, that's true. And the next question is, what do we lose when we lose nonverbal communication? Nonverbal signals are key to building trust. Without nonverbal communication, relationships may become more superficial, and it may be difficult to make real friends. Also, making friends online or talking with people online is kind of hard to understand them. Nonverbal behavior is an important part of empathy and helps us understand and feel the emotions of others. Yeah, I really agree with you, Barbara. Could you tell me how are your devices impacting you and how are they impacting those around you? Like what I said before, my devices for now definitely distract my focus when I'm trying to do my work. Also, social media has kind of brought up a lot of problems. I feel like people are more focused on building their social media than actually enjoying having their own life. Also, when I hang out with my friends, especially friends younger than me, sometimes they will focus on their phones instead of talking to me. I feel that's kind of disrespectful, but I also kind of understand that they grew up in this environment, but I still don't feel really comfortable about it. Okay, one last question is how are digital media impacting your values, your community, your self-image, your ability to think, and your view of others? Digital media spreads a lot of amount of information and ideas through advertising, social media, news, and other channels, which can shape or change an individual's values. The culture of comparison on social media can have a negative impact on an individual's self-image. Constantly comparing yourself to the carefully created online images or others can lead to a decreased sense of self-worth and an increased sense of dissatisfaction. Thank you for doing this interview with me today, Barbara, and thank you for all of your ideas. That's all really impressive.