Reflective Essay
Reflective Essay
Reflective Essay
By Emma Langley
Technology, in turn New Media Technologies such as the Internet, laptops and 3G
Mobile phones, have made the communication process between other individuals
all around the world, possible to interact with. Having the ability to communicate
could not make possible. Social Networking, therefore through New Media
Technology, has entered not only the public sphere but the private sphere of our
communication and social interactivity. It is through New Media and its various
With millions of pro/users within the social networking sphere, devoting more
time to creating the ideal online personality, than of participating within reality.
According to Jenkins (2006), convergence culture is, “where old and new media
collide, where grassroots and corporate media intercept, where the power of the
Jenkins (2006) defines it as, “the flow of content across multiple media platforms,
the corporation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behaviour
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to understanding the online worlds and the key to understanding the behavioural
spending one in every 10 minutes online… [accounting for] 10 per cent of all
and the idea that audience participation is growing due to the search of the ideal
information across different media platforms takes place, in result the user’s goal
2009, to why it is so essential to be a user within the virtual online worlds, “it is
dilemmas which are happening, and to find out these dilemmas/gossip instantly,
without traditional hassle, through the phone or face to face.” This response,
coming directly from the so-called technological generation, who are perceived
as being the most technologically advanced, that however does not make it
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exclusion to the younger populations, with a growing amount of generation x, y
and even baby boomers, becoming involved within social networking sites. Evans
(2009), states that, “With the social networks, people may feel like they are 'left
out of the loop' if they don't have an online persona because so much
This flow of content, across the multiple media platforms, is how the
more and more personal websites, webcams and commercial sites that play with
the idea of looking in on private worlds… [forming] the cultural discourse of what
is public and what is private, who is the performer and who is the audience”
(pp.55).
With the public and private transformations, through various social networking
sites and new media technologies, the concept of privacy and control over
displayed content within the World Wide Web is essential in addressing. Such
high profile celebrities as; Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens and Stephanie Rice, all
failing to control their private information, entering the publicly accessible sphere
of the internet, when controversial images were posted on the internet. Privacy
and control forming a relationship between the user and new media
technologies, as control to what is available within the public and private sphere
information was under my control I felt it wasn’t necessary that people knew
what I was doing on the weekend or view last week’s photo… There are [millions
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of] registered users on MySpace, Twitter and Face book alone, so who knows who
private nature.
not to display phone numbers or direct mailing addresses, control and inturn
safety can be achieved. Devereux (2009), stating that, “To me, safety is of a top
priority, and although I enjoy sharing my life with friends and relatives both in
(2009) suggesting that, online has a different impact than the spoken, we need
to question how do words change when we translate them into text. Further who
has the ability to view, process and use the publicly displayed information
hypereal Identities, with computing not being about the computers anymore, it
being about living” (Flew 2008). The idea that through the forming
representational culture, participates form the ideal persona, having the ability
and flexibility to create false traits, looks and abilities, with little to no question.
Offering “an entrance into another reality” (Flew 2008, pp.42). Evans (2009)
commenting that, “Like most net users, I tend to present my online persona as
my ‘ideal self’ than rather my actual self.” Making it clear that within the virtual
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New Media Technologies, hence the access to social networking sites, hold both
technologies, to the issues towards living within a public or private sphere, to the
false sense of living within/through social network sites. Overall if control is taken
to limit the risks, the hours of interactivity and the concept that “life in the real
world is far more interesting, far more important, far richer, than anything you’ll
ever find on a computer screen” (Stoll 1995). Then new media technologies and
advanced world.
Reference List:
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Jones, L 2009, Convergence Culture, weblog, accessed 15/6/2009,
http://twitwall.com/view/?who=Lib006