Five years ago I had the opportunity to be one of the first SMU students to log on to Facebook.Little did anyone know what would transpire in just a few years. Facebook would take over the world.Back in middle school, I developed quite a reputation for being a tech geek. Friends sought me out for all of their tech-related needs. A daily dose of technology consisted of downloading music and chatting on AIM. Remember those days?While mainstream America “ROFLed” and “J/K’ed” through the 90s, something amazing happened. I remember the first time my best friend got a DSL modem. I was still running a U.S. Robotics 56 kbps modem in my Pentium Three tower. We marveled at how fast DSL seemed – you could transfer a song in 5 minutes instead of 30!What a shift in technology and social norms has occurred over the last five years. As the availability of high-speed broadband internet spread, people began taking advantage of this faster way of connecting to each other. Can you even imagine your life before Facebook? What did you do with all of those tiny chunks of free time? I’m not trying to recap the history of the Internet or even provide an accurate recount of the last few years, but I’m simply baffled at how tech-savvy yet self-centered people have become in the past few years. I probably officially became a 24/7 “netizen” when my father made the decision to purchase a cable modem for our house. After that monumental day, I definitely became somewhat dependent on the Internet. I learned about bulletin board systems, IRC, and the fast-paced and addicting world of online gaming. The plethora of information available became a great haven for the learner in me. The Internet also provides an opportunity for equality. Race, age, gender, social status and even educational status disappeared in a community where you gained respect for the knowledge and entertainment that you provided. Thanks to those years of my high school life, I became a prolific web designer and graphic artist. Thanks to a community of individuals who shared a few basic common interests, I worked hard to contribute quality work to the larger group.Communities like that still exist today. However, I am concerned about the shift to self. What I mean is the shift from community-based information exchange to this personal blogging/ self-advertising phenomenon. We all had profiles on AIM. But those profiles were not channels of expression. Today, we have people making careers out of their blogs. They decide what they are interested in and what the world needs to hear and start blogging about it. Bloggers have seized control of the flow of information in a powerful way. The Internet does provide many useful tools that enhance our life. The ability to order anything online is a godsend. However, are things like Myspace, Facebook, or even Twitter really necessary? David Derbyshire recently wrote an article about how “social Web sites harm children’s brains.” Derbyshire reports claims from neuroscientist Susan Greenfield that social networking sites are “shortening attention spans, encouraging instant gratification, and making young people more self-centered”. You’re probably saying to yourself, “I don’t check Facebook that much. I don’t even know what Twitter is.” While you may have more self-discipline, just peek your head into a classroom or walk past students in the library. I guarantee you will find people on some kind of social Web site. We can’t deny what is happening in the world today. In fact, I do believe we should embrace it – to an extent. The fact that SMU communication majors are all learning how to use Twitter shows the shift from traditional forms of communication. The fact that I kept up with the Oscars via Twitter when I didn’t have a TV is proof that times have changed. I am ominously reminded of my first-year common reading “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman. I highly encourage you to pick up a copy of this short commentary that argues that television has become our primary form of communication and eradicated public discourse from our lives. This book was written in 1985! I confess that feelings of disdain arise when I see what online communities have become. These communities have become almost too personal and narcissistic. I wish more people would learn to use these tools of communication properly. They can be a great benefit to your life – if you don’t let them take over your life. To share something from one of my favorite and most respected bloggers, Merlin Mann, “I’ve started to become a lot pickier about where my attention goes as I observe what it means to my work when it drifts.” Read http://bit.ly/81P04. Where is your attention going? Are online social communities like Facebook and Twitter destroying our ability to think critically, work creatively, and even mature mentally? You can twit me about it @danielliu, e-mail me or Facebook me. I’ll call you back.
Daniel Liu is a graduate engineering management student. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].
