Jone's article told me nothing new. Even though the culture of interactivity between new medias and old medias is something I did experience growing up and did take for granted, I was actually more facinated by the examples he uses in the very beginning with the young generation of chinese people that are doing exactly what we are doing right now. The stories about the students who study their homework, chat online, debate politics, and downloading music all at the same time really intrigued me. These are the types of activities we always here either American or European students doing. I guess seeing how China is advancing to becoming one of the biggest super powers in the world, it should come to no surprise that their young adult generation is learning to adapt and expand on an already growing age where technology and social networking is defining how we interact with our local communities and communities around the world. I guess having people from all around the world learning to engage in this new frontier would make our cultures more similar than we tend to realize.(I really hope my surprise about these similarities doesn't make me ignorant or racist; please don't compare me to that dumbass chick from UCLA).
As to Williams article,I found it very refreshing that he studied and analyzed how young people interacted with popular culture and not look down on it. I, on the other hand, find myself guilty of performing that judgement call. I watch shows like "The Soup" that always slander and redicule reality shows, talk shows, celebrities and popular culture in general and catch myself saying "I can't believe people actually enjoy this shit!" I did find it facinating that Williams took the high road of this analysis and chose to view pop culture as a force that ultimately defines and shapes the minds of the younger generations, and not in a negative fashion like our elder generation does. I may still look down at what is creating that culture (I'm looking at Jersey Shore) but I did find a new perspective on that culture and may think twice before I look down and rub my nose on that.
There is nothing wrong with hating the Jersey Shore. I will join you in making that judgment right now. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure China has been right there with us this entire time (all of our electronics are made in Asian countries, let's be real) but that doesn't mean that having the ability to engage in "inter-activity" with computers/homework/talking/music means that everyone does it. So to me it's more interesting to look at the types of people that do it, and why they do it, for example gay men internet chatting with multiple people at the same time in the hope that they will find "the one" more quickly. And I found it hard to believe that Ming was really doing homework while doing everything else, and if she was I imagine her homework, when finished (if she ever finished it) was not very high quality. So maybe the point is, we can't overstimulate ourselves with activities because something is going to get the short end of the stick.
ReplyDeleteFTF = Face To Face....it was in the "inter-activity" article, otherwise I never would have used it.
ReplyDeleteBoth examples of students using CMC in Jones' article were from Hong Kong - not generally a good representation of Chinese population as a whole. Hong Kong is an incredibly modern center of commerce and represents a small slice of the Chinese culture. To say that China has been "right there with us" the entire time is quite inaccurate. Like you said Karen, our electronics are made in factories in Asian countries. The people that work in those factories have recently (last 10 years) had the opportunity to live barely above the poverty line. There is still a HUGE percentage of the Chinese population that lives WAY below our standard of poverty. Just because a country is becoming a world super power, does not, by any means, mean that the general population lives at standards anywhere close to those enjoyed by us in developed western nations.
ReplyDeleteSpencer, I agree that it is interesting to look at the way that CMC accelerates globalization. The internet, with its seemingly infinite accessibility, can spread ideas and pop culture at a rate never seen before. It is, however, important to consider that access to this vast online culture isn't always as free or liberal as we might think. The governments of many developing nations (hmm, like China) spend massive amounts of time and money censoring what the public has access to online. On one hand it seems wrong, but on the other, can you really blame them for trying to protect their own culture and ideals from an increasingly global culture?