Digital Nation

     This week in class we watched the documentary "Digital Nation." The documentary concerned how much technology is impacting our lives. The documentary covered both positive and negative effects that people feel technology is having on people and society. Three main points that were covered in the documentary were; living faster, relationships, and virtual worlds.
     The documentary covered how technology is speeding up our lives and causing us to live faster. One study covered in the documentary focused on the increase of multi-tasking in students. A growing number of students are attempting to do multiple tasks at a time. For example, sitting in a lecture with their laptop, listening to the lecture, taking notes, watching a video, and checking texts on their phone. The study found that these so called "multi-taskers" were actually doing each task poorly compared to doing one task at a time, therefore showing they were not really effective at multi-tasking. Some argue that all the new technology in our lives is leading us to sensory overload and that new technology is outpacing our efforts to research it's effects on society.
     Another topic covered was relationships. Many people argue that technology has led to a distance and alienation in most relationships. For example, people used to meet face-to-face to talk and socialize. With phones, then even more with cell phones, people started talking long-distance without the social interaction of face-to-face contact. Now many people only communicate by text-based methods like texting and e-mail. The documentary also represented people who feel technology is beginning to help relationships. They claim technology gives people who feel the urge to connect to other people the ability to do so. People can reach out to friends and family in distant locales and maintain a relationship that would have been near impossible previously. With online video, you are starting to be able to have that intimacy of being face-to-face and seeing and hearing the other person.
     The last main topic I saw was virtual worlds. A lot of the documentary covered the dark side of the issue. It claimed that playing video games is highly addictive and had led to the creation of classes to teach computer usage and etiquette, as well as rehabilitation programs for video game addicts. That is a potential downside. On the upside, video games give people access to a highly immersive and powerful vicarious life. Video games give you the ability to do, and experience, things that you may never be able to experience in real life. For some, this is no more than entertainment. For others, it allows them to unleash frustrations with real life in a more healthy way than doing those things in reality.
     "Digital Nation" showed that technology is moving fast. We have no choice but to adapt. It is only going to become more integrated in our lives in the future.