Have the new media changed our lives for the better? Caleb Seow 10S403

The world has never been more connected with the evolution of media. New media now allows us to take a peek into the personal lives of others, and to upload a piece of our personal lives online. New media now has the capability of spreading personalized content to the rest of the world in mere seconds, allowing anyone and everyone to have instant access to our files, images and even music we upload online, with interactive user feedback from others as well. This has connected the world more than ever, especially on an individual basis. Our lives have now been interlinked, and for the better as we can now access information and feedback we could never have dreamed of having with the old media. One such example is the advent of the social networking site, Facebook. This form of new media allows users to post their thoughts, images, likes and dislikes online for the viewing of the online community, as well as any other internet users who stumble across this information. In turn, the online community can give feedback almost immediately, allowing for creative participation from other users to comment on your own personal life. However, such accessibility to information is often exaggerated. Privacy features on many media websites are often overlooked, and we fail to see that people tend to post and upload what they want others to see, and at many times, this might not be their true self, but merely a part of them that they choose to display to the online community. We may not always see who they truly are, but merely an illusion they display for others to see. This causes are lives to built upon superficiality, where we all try to show the world the part of us that looks good, but not our innermost self, in turn, harming the way we live our lives. Therefore, new media has given us increased accessibility and connectivity to the rest of the world, but has also injected superficiality into our lives. Therefore, new media has not changed our lives for the better.

CALEB SEOW 10S403