The focus of the readings this week were on Media Ecologies, our own and others. Although I have a media ecology, I had not given much intentional thought to the perception of that ecology or others until this week. After reading the assigned readings (you can check them out in the references below) and doing a little digging around on my own I have a better perception of myself in my own media ecology. In this post I will take from Neil Postman's definition of media ecology and describe the way media communication has effected my understanding and value as a person as well as how I have perceived others in those areas of focus.
Understanding
My media ecology is focused primarily on professional growth, although I do communicate with personal friends and family through media I save social media for professional communication. I use technology in the service of my own creative objectives as Baym and boyd (2012) put it in their article about socially mediated publicness. In and effort to reach more like minded educators and expand my PLN, I use media to accomplish those goals. My understanding about education in general and the innovations in the field have expanded dramatically since using media to grow my PLN that I interact with. Media is a way to expand ideas and speak to larger audiences than ever before. We have become more connected than ever, having more access to different ideas which has increased our understanding. Our media ecologies also have the ability to limit our understanding, it is easy to hear only what we want to hear. For example Twitter is a great media to share ideas but as a Twitter user you do not have to hear or see everything that goes through the media, you can choose what you want to see. These social medias are being used to spread ideas by everyone and giving voice to those who may not have had a voice before such as young people. An example of this is the story of Nza-Ari Khepra who started an organization called Project Orange Tree in memory of a friend of hers and others who are murdered by inner-city violence, you can read the whole story here (Social Media for Good). Khepra's example shows the possibilities that are available to anyone who has an idea they want to share. It also shows how our ever growing media ecologies are changing the way we interact with one another.Value
When I thinking of value I think about my worth to someone else, what I have done for others to increase those relationships and connections. Media has given me, and everyone else, the ability to connect with people and to staying connected with people gives value to peoples lives. It is human nature to want to have and maintain some type of connection with others, media has always been a way to accomplish this. Watching young people in my classes use media to stay connected and give value to their lives, has proven this point to me. Youth, and ourselves, can find specific groups who share their passions that they can connect with. Barriers to hanging out have been knocked down to some extent through media. Young people can now stay connected with their friends even when they cannot meet in a face-to-face setting. There is value in connection and strength. My perception is that media has added value to many peoples lives by giving strengthening our connections to others.I also understand that this media can also spread negative ideas and increase bullying which can decrease someones value. Robert Heverly (2008) gave great insight to this idea. He spoke to the persistence of media today, that because of the ease of posting pictures, videos or anything else to the internet we are putting ourselves in a position of vulnerability, especially if those things are of an intimate nature. Once media is put online it is always there and people have created ways of finding it even after you think it has been deleted. Things that we used to chalk up to youthful indiscretion can now come back to haunt a young person when they are attempting to apply to college, get a job, etc.
Overall my perception of myself and the others who I come in contact with through the media ecology that I live in is a positive good. I see great value in the my changing culture as a result of media and its influences on myself and others.
References:
Ito, M., Sonja B., Matteo B., Boyd, D. Cody, R., Herr, B., Horst, H.A., Lang, P.G., Mahendran, D., Martinez, K., Pascoe, C.J., Perkel, D., Robinson, L., Sims, C., & Tripp, L. (2009) Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press
Baym, N.K. & boyd d. (2012). Socially Mediated Publicness: An Introduction Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 56(3).
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