Ries_Blog #2

           When asked to reach out to the older generations about their media experience, I immediately thought of my parents: lack of understanding of social media, confusion over iPhone functions, slight computer understanding, etc. This would work! Except … my parents are about 10 years younger than the prompt. I instead turned to a friend’s mom who I’ve met on a few occasions.

Mrs. D was ready for the challenge and gave me some great insight into her experiences. When prompted with a question about some changes she remembered in media, she immediately connected to the introduction of the internet. She mentioned that the “World Wide Web was introduced a bit after we graduated from college.” She also said that college experiences were really impacted through the lack of internet in comparing hers to her daughter’s. For example, she mentioned that in college they did not have email or mobile phones and you had to carry quarters in your car in case you had to use a pay phone while traveling. I occasionally carry quarters with me now, but it would only be for a toll not a phone. Does anyone know phone numbers anymore?

I then asked about people’s computer use as well and she mentioned that their only option was to go to the computer labs using the plugged-in school network. That was an expected reaction and was similar for me in middle school, but we soon introduced a home computer and laptops. When it came to registering for classes she laughed when talking about their process. To choose classes, students had to call a specified registrar phone number on the dorm landline with prompts that specified class numbers. My freshman year of college, my grandmother mentioned that she used to wait in huge lines with the entire student body waiting to input their classes into a system. Now, our registrar system is so automated, and people still have plenty of issues with it. The last academically oriented change Mrs. D mentioned was that the only place for research was the library and checking out books. In talking about it, she poked fun at our lack of real library use.

In a personal life connection, Mrs. D recalled renting VHS tapes from Blockbuster – not using a subscription service like Netflix. Renting movies to watch at home was new to her in the 1980s, so before that it had to be watched in the theater only. When I asked if I could get a picture of her to use with my questions, she was very hesitant and asked to make sure I use a filter or crop it to make it look better – despite that comment being outside of my questions, the difference in media use for photos was clear as well.

            Mrs. D was helpful in pointing out directly related changes that she knew of from her initial use to now. She does still use a lot of the artifacts but mentioned needed to be taught more than she used to. In my experience, there are a few key differences between what she brought up and what is considered “new” media. The first aspect is the necessity of memory. I have a terrible memory and would struggle to remember numbers to call, how much a pay phone was, or the course code I needed to punch in. Part of me believes that it is due to the lack of practice. I know if I had to memorize more phone numbers, I would probably be better at it but why know them when they’re a touch away? Similarly, researching on a computer is simpler and faster than having to search for a book and hoping it actually goes with your research topic, so I think that skill has become obsolete. When individual’s used “old” media, there was no need for “branding of the self”, or “notion(s) of participation” – Mrs. D never mentioned media that involved others which I think speaks to the differences in the definition of media over time (35-36). The textbook also mentions how “the capitalist Internet economy needs to change and innovate in order to guarantee the continuity of capital accumulation” which, through the discussion with Mrs. D, I think it has (61). Despite any initial interpretations of what the web would be used for, it has not become invaluable in the way people use it for their daily research, entertainment, and information seeking.

Blockbusters closed down when I was younger, but I still remember loving to go. I think going to the movie store was more fun than scrolling through Netflix but there is an ease and minimal travel for Netflix or on-demand. Another direct comparison between old and new media is that social aspect. All of the shifts she mentioned involved person to person contact solely. It seemed less like an interactive feature and just did the job it was intended for. Media did not have a multitude of functions or purposes for people to ‘figure out’ as they evolved – it simply got the job done. In this way, media and how it is accessed changed. The internet is not just for research, but research can be done through the use of the internet. In the same way, my phone is not just for calling people, but it can make phone calls. Because of these multiple uses, new media takes a lot longer to understand and fully use for many individuals. While there were use expectations in landline phones, texting and emoticons offer a whole new landscape for expectations of behavior, tones, and frequency of use that could not have existed.

I laughed when Mrs. D closed our conversation with, “I feel like a dinosaur right now” because that seems to be a running theme in media changes. With how quickly media has been introduced and evolved most people haven’t had the chance to catch up. New media offers new landscapes, interactions, and expectations that will be constantly shifting with each new addition. Old media has primarily become obsolete due to the evolution that left them inefficient.

References 

Fuchs, C. M. (2017). Social media: A critical introduction. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications Ltd.