We Want Media

My roommate has just purchased a new laptop computer. Was she excited! Before she bought the laptop computer, she used to work on her old desktop that had a pretty slow Internet connection. With the new laptop computer, however, along came Wi-Fi high-speed wireless Internet.

I wouldn't even have noticed that her computer had arrived, but all of sudden there was this unusual silence. Before, when we came home at the end of the day, we would talk about everything until we went to bed. Then I realized that her laptop has finally arrived and that she was on it all the time, surfing the net and talking to people on AIM.

This has made me think of how this new form of media and technology has become so closely integrated into our daily lives. I myself spend more time talking to friends online than face-to-face, in my case mainly because many of my close friends are on the West coast. The technology has changed our patterns of communications so much that there have been many researches to study the effects of this new technology on our communications and social interactions.

Some say it has made communications convenient and more effective, while others argue that it may inhibit the development of deeper, more sincere relationships, as online communications are mostly quick and impersonal. It is true that online communications tend to be superficial and you have the screen to hide behind, but sometimes it can also provide the opportunity to be yourself who you might otherwise fear to be. I'm not sure which side to take, but I do know this: while I cannot give up the convenience of electronic and instant communications, they cannot possibly take the place of old media such as real letters. I love getting emails from my friends and family, but nothing compares to finding an envelope with a stamp in my mailbox.