Has new media changed our lives for the better?

The presence of new media has enabled people, young and old alike, to facilitate free expression and advertisement across the globe. People are now able to express their thoughts and feelings about certain issues online and broadcast it to the whole world if they choose, instead of simply writing in a diary like before. New media has also become a method of advertising for companies and private entreprenuers. This has been proven to be more effective than simply putting up posters and sending flyers. For example, new media has given rise to the concept of blogshops and podcasts for aspiring entreprenuers to advertise what they want to sell, and many people nowadays convey their thoughts and feelings about their lives, or certain hot topics in the world, online on their blogs. Examples of these websites for them to express themselves include Blogger, Livejournal, and Wordpress. Therefore, new media like the Internet has changed our lives for the better by allowing free expression and faster and more convienient ways of advertisement to facilitate sales.

The presence of new media has also allowed people to connect with each other much more easily. Before the rise of new media, one of the only methods of making new friends and connecting with old ones are through letter-writing, pen-palship and talking through the phone, all of which are costly over a long period of time and is limited to an area. Now, with such new creations like Facebook, MSN and Skype, people are able to make new friends, catch up with old ones by talking with each other over the net, and playing games and applications together. For example, Facebook has hundreds of applications and games for people to play and compete with each other. This helps to strengthen their bonds through interaction. However, these new media may also have adverse effects on people as some people may abuse the use of new media to cheat people. There have been many cases whereby people make new friends through MSN or Facebook and get cheated as a result. Thus, new media may have opened doors to more communication among the people, but may result in higher crime rates as well. However, as long as these sites are monitored to reduce this crime, and we practise caution ourselves whilst on the Internet, all these problems can be controlled. Thus new media has also changed our lives in a positive way through more open communication.

-pinghao