Response 1: NicholeO
When I tell people that my major is New Media, I get a number of responses of what people think the major is. Some think it’s working at news stations, or magazines, or making smartphones. There are many times when people ask me what New Media, because they never heard of the major. At first I didn’t really know what to tell them, because I was just entering the program and didn’t realize just how broad the major was. I’ve still only learned a small part of what I can do with the degree, but I was able to narrow down my answers to that dreaded question.
Even with new technology being created everyday, and it very quickly becoming essential parts of many peoples lives, I still find myself having to dumb down the definition of my major. I tell people that New Media is a mix of art and technology, but deep down I know even that’s not fully true. I feel like I am depriving people of knowing just how incredible the major is, and how helpful it is to our lives. There becomes this miscommunication as to what I’m doing in the major, and what they think I’m doing.
This miscommunication reminds me of the misinterpretation of the hackers from the video seen in class. Up until now, I thought hackers were criminals, because that is how the media portrayed them. It makes sense since larger companies with money would no doubt influence what the media put out about hackers. If a big company didn’t not want a group of people possibly causing them to lose money because they were outsmarted, it is no surprise they would want to stop them. The video showed that hackers aren’t all criminals. There may be a handful who do use their knowledge for devious reasons, but these people are brilliant, and many of them do it out of curiosity and fun. What better way to prevent hacking than to use a hacker, so it would be unfair to punish those who could actually be helpful.
One thought on “Response 1: NicholeO”
You must be logged in to post a comment.
“New Media is a mix of art and technology”–this is a pretty good definition. Maybe you could just add “that gives more people access to creativity and power to shape their lives and their world”. With this definition, you could always ask yourself: does my New Media invention/project help put more power and creativity into more peoples’ hands? or is it a toy for the super rich? or will it help more people live better? Tis gives New Media an ethical dimension.