Now a media literate citizen
by Niki Makarenko
What is Media Literacy and why is it important?
The common belief by a majority of people is that the media is just the news, newspapers, or magazines. However, with the changing times in our country and our generation in general with technology media has become so much bigger. The media has transformed itself into being really anything that involves ways people receive information. The clear example of this expansion is seen in social media. Social media is a great place for news suppliers to get out information fast, easy, and cheap. All they have to do is hire an intern in charge of running there social media accounts and bam there you go. It is so much easier to send people updates on any various things by having access to their most intimate device, their smart phone. The human race as a whole is constantly on their phones, especially in the younger generations, and it is a perfect way for a media source to give out information. Media literacy is very important in today’s world because people need to be conscious of their actions, and how serious they really should take media sources, especially social media. The NSA has access to all of our phones because they have a legal system to set up that defends there right to access cell phones. So, your really have no idea if you’re actually being watched or not. It is important to be media literate because you don’t want to say something that you think as a joke, that an NSA agent finds and takes very seriously. Obviously this is an extreme case, but with all of the information we put out there it could be so easy for someone to gather a profile on us, and that’s scary.
Social Media
Wordle
News Source
What is Dystopia?
Rhetorical Precis for Intuit QuickBooks Super Bowl Commercial
Auto-Correct Humanity Response
To ensure that this does not become a permanent reality in today's world we need to stop giving technology to kids at such a young age. Kids are developing mentally with technology because they get iPad's when they are 4, and we are astounded when their social skills are inferior to the norm. We give them technology so young that it is all they know, and I'm sure that the statistic for number of years they spend on a screen is only going to go up. We have all been to a restaurant and seen a family eating dinner, which is a lovely thing, but the two little kids keep screaming and crying to see their parents phones. The parents eventually comply and now a family dinner turns into a meal where two people are actually their while their children are in two separate virtual realities.
Saying that you are addicted to social media may sound ludicrous, but it really is not. If you are like me you check all of your social media everyday when you wake up, periodically throughout the day, and then before you go to bed. I can not deny it, I am addicted. But is there a way to control this addiction? Honestly, I do not think so. With technology only growing and social media expanding daily, there is not way that we can control it. There is always a constant migration of social media users from one service to another. It started with Myspace, then Facebook, then twitter, then Instagram, then Snapchat, then Yik yak, then Periscope and who knows what is next. The implications of this is simple, yet it is very scary. The furthering of the addiction will mean that social skills will become extinct and human interaction will be a thing of the past. It is so much more comfortable to conduct a conversation with somebody when you simply have the option to not reply or leave. Also, you have this false front, the screen, right in front of you that can protect you from who you really may be.
To harness the power of social media and technology and use it for good we need to slow down the innovation and just look around us. Look around and see the high tech world we live in. The transformation of everything has been unbelievable and it has all happened in such a short period of time. If you took an average person from the 1980's and placed them in 2015, they would think that they are in the year 2115 with all these handheld phones, and laptops, and electric sports cars. We need to appreciate what we have and how lucky we are to have the access to the world at our finger tips. If we are able to realize how lucky we are to have this ability, and not abuse it then we will be able to use the technology for good without becoming a slave to it.