Hi Everybody - Hi Dr Nick!

This week's topic has so far been my favourite! Why you ask?


(prompted) You: Why Kyla?


Me: Because I am a self confessed hypochondriac and don't deny it. It's taken me some courage but I now (finally) have My doctor bookmarked! I must be a quack like Megan Hausler's mother. However don't giving me the crazy eyes so quackly.

Here me out - I found myself spending a small fortune going to see my real doctor  nearly every other week. So instead typed my symptoms into Google to put my mind at ease the online way.


 No Megan, I don't take it literally. It could some 13 year old in Switzerland who's father works for Bayer feeding me false information but I don't care. My mental heath is at ease. I understand that if pain persists I should seek medical advice, but I love the immediate answer of why I have a headache (lNote to reader Lack of water, Consume 2 Litres per day). 


Dr. Online helps me to recognise the problem immediatly and move on from the problem immediately. It is the idea of every answer being at tip of my keyboard which makes my heart beat normally for this cost effective medical advice. 


Smart phones have the ability to save lives  surely that has to amount to some sort of recognition? These websites can make one think they are 24 hours away from a flatline but  as you may have sensed I don't take the Internet too seriously. I think it's Quacktasitc. 

HOWEVER....


Like many things such as:

1. Relationship Updates
2. Does my Butt look big in this unitard?
3. A Stale bag of Chips
4. Long toenails 
5. Feature Walls
6. Socks and Sandals 
7. Killing Ants
8. Pigeon impersonations 

Always seek a second opinion. 

Branded Entertainment?

"Our life is lived in Media rather that with Media"
(Deuze, cited in Deuze 2011, p. 138)

Our New media: Internet myself and beyond class is guiding me to become more aware about the term 'New Media' and how the Internet is affecting life today. At first I found it really interesting or maybe it was just an extended stalk, either way I was comforted by the fact that like myself, many others also rely on the Internet for entertainment, education and socialisation. But then things got BORING. After all, I am GEN Y and I only have the attention span of a goldfish. Get with the demographic peoples! I use the internet, I love the internet and one day my marriage certificate will be ON the internet. In other words, when a song is played too much I change the station.



These academics such as Bell (2004) need to stop pointing the finger at us Gen Y lab rats - "The thumb generation". I think you made a mistake Dr. Bell its the middle finger generation. Don't box me, graph me or stat me. I understand that the Internet is a  phenomena and changing ways of communication as we know it -  but SO? Just like evolution, our World was made to change and grow.  Surprise Surprise! That means we've stopped talking through paper cups and moved into Internet Cables. This is reality, me sitting typing on my computer is reality. Create all the 'Visual Worlds' you like, but I wont be escaping to them. Well not until they invent online tanning. Since starting this subject I have used the Internet less. Be entertained and Laugh. That's what I believe it's there for.

My latest obsession, Die Antwoord. Whatever man. 

References:


Die Antwoord Clip. Zef Slide. Accessed from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_pS46YRMIQ


Deuze, M. (2011). Media Life. In Media, Culture & Society, Volume 33, issue 1, pp. 137-148.  Available on CMD via QUT Library.


Bell, G. (2006). The Age of the Thumb: a Cultural Reading of Mobile Technologies from Asia. Knowledge, Technology, & Policy, Summer 2006, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 41-57. 

Also available on CMD via QUT Library.

To Infinity and Beyond

As a kid I would look up to the nights sky and think about the endless portals our universe could contain. That black nothingness which goes on forever containing millions of pieces of useful information. Today my modern equivalent of star gazing is now web surfing. Hello My name is Kyla and I am addicted to the Internet. When capable I search the endless depths of the world wide web for hours, gazing at websites from all over the globe being mentally teleported into Topshop's latest summer/spring collection.

 I think if Dr. Bell were to examine my Internet behaviour I would fit very much into her findings of  'wanting connection' (Bell, 2008).  Her presentation interested me, I found her talking about me as her lab rat even though I've never been in a glass box. I guess I'm not alone in my addiction. I wont lie. It shook me,  forced me to take one small step for Kyla and one even bigger step for my Facebook profile. I disconnected.  Half a deck of cigarettes, a bitchy phone call to my best friend and a twitching eye later I returned. Yes I only successfully completed five hours of restraint but with four new notifications my return was warranted.

Dr. Bell commented on people's desire to also disconnect whereby they take holidays to complete 'dead zones'. For me this would not be possible. I admire those brave souls, but I have a feeling that demographic would be in the age bracket of my mum and dad, trying to escape not only their ringing mobile phones but just mankind in general.

I am a social astronaut and always have been. Dr Bell made me feel guilty for my reliance on the internet. This angered me. She was trying sabotage my relationship with Percy (my lapdog laptop) But No!  Just like Charlie Sheen I don't feel the need to conform to anti social media propaganda. YES I will write my grandmother letters and YES I will play outside, but NO I will not turn off my laptop or disconnect from my online universe.


Referencing:
 Bell, G. (2008). Digital Economy Forum Presentation retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE6QWUKIP5M


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