Response 1 – AshleyD
As a new student to the New Media program, it is hard for me to say what exactly New Media is or how it effects people. I haven’t really had the hands-on experiences that others may have already under their belts. When I told my parents I wanted to switch into New Media they looked at me and ask what it was. Most people do the same. It’s honestly been difficult to try and explain to any one person what New Media actually is because it encompasses so many different aspects of media all in one major.
This past week has truly opened my eyes to what an amazing world New Media offers, until last week my mind was filled with writing code and making things work. In computer science, I never had a chance to do hands-on projects and work with others on creative and meaningful ideas and collaborations. Now I have this outrageous sense of freedom like before I was almost trapped in the world of programming and computers. New Media is so much more than computers and programming, it’s about creating lasting and meaningful connections with the rest of the world.
Many-to-many. I love this idea! Not only has this inspired me in the past week in my courses but, it has given me so many new outlooks on my daily life. The idea of many people working together to bring something to so many other people is really wonderful! This really gave me an insight into what I believe New Media is all about which is creating and sharing beautiful and meaningful ideas. I believe New Media is about bringing people together and having them connect on a whole new level. To me, New Media is not just about connecting the “younger generation” aka the technology savvy, it is about creating new ways for people to connect with anyone in the world. Technology may be one outlet of New Media and a great one at that but, I don’t believe New Media revolves around technology.
One of the interesting things I’ve taken away from this course already is that there are multiple ways to interpret something. For example, I would likely interpret something differently than my friends or family would. Now, this isn’t necessarily misinterpretation but, it is something to consider when working on a project. Another example of a different interpretation of something is hacking. Since I can remember I have been taught and told that hacking is bad, that it’s illegal and wrong and that the people who do it are criminals. Really though I was wrong. Hackers are not bad people they are smart interesting people was are seeking a creative outlet and their outlet just happens to be hacking. I’d never really thought of hacking as a creative outlet before, I’d just sort of assumed the people who were doing it were only doing it for money or information. I’m sure some of them are but then there are those who truly wished to just find a way to express themselves and enjoy something that they were passionate about. Hacking is definitely an interesting topic to explore further.
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“New Media is so much more than computers and programming, it’s about creating lasting and meaningful connections with the rest of the world.” Pretty darn good definition!!
I like your ability to hold multiple truths in your head at once–this is a sign of mature thinking–allowing different people to have a different reality, but seeking common ground by clear communication. This does not mean accepting lying or propaganda, but it does mean valuing differences as ways to make a more robust and rich whole. It is the foundation of respect.
You might think of hackers as people who question the idea of how power is organized (especially as information rather than money–though both are linked in our culture), and who gets to have it all. They question why corporation can get your data legally but you can’t get theirs–it’s asymmetrical, and so it’s illegal because we have validated these asymmetries with laws. How did these laws create such imbalances? Are you aware that our founding fathers were very suspicious of such power asymmetries? Tom Paine would have been a hacker.