erendeebbyxo-blog

[erendeebbyxo-blog]

The Future of Digital Media Technology is in Your Hands

Dear future Digital Media and Communication (COMM 309) student,

If you are planning on taking this course or you have already registered, then you must have already read the course description. If not, then the course title should give you an insight to the course dynamic -- the title is extremely accurate to the course content: again, digital media and communication. Throughout the quarter, you will be learning about the growing revolution of communicating through the internet, digital media, and other forms of applied sciences that morph the idea of socialization and technology together.

Also, keep in mind that this course will require several hours of your time to complete assignments, quizzes, and discussion board posts. COMM 309 is more than just a midterm and a final.

The most important idea that we covered during the course was the concept of being “superconnected.” According to Mary Chayko, author of the textbook, Superconnected: The Internet, Digital Media, and Techno-Social Life, the term “superconnected” refers to being “connected to so many others, in so many ways, with such wide-ranging social implications” (2016). You can find complementary podcasts to each chapter by Mary Chayko herself here. This course will teach you the history, importance, and the future of technology and the way we communicate with one another. Though the idea of being “superconnected” is the core of the class, I will not go into full detail of its relevance or why it should be applied to your life. Instead, I will shed light to a different, yet equally important, concept: diffusion of innovation.

Though diffusion of innovation may seem like a fancy term, diffusion of innovation simply means how “information and technology is spread throughout societies” (Chayko, 2016, p. 8). It is fairly simple -- every innovation needs to begin somewhere and someone needs to start it. After a new form of technology or innovation is finally put out there, the public is needed to provide support and feedback, but first, they need to be adapted to these innovations. However, there are different types of adapters and it depends on them on how they react and receive the new media. Nevertheless, diffusion of innovation is required so technology and communication can keep revolutionizing the world simultaneously. Here is a fun and informative video about diffusion of innovation.

But why is this concept important or relatable, and why do we need to learn about it? Well, WE are the adapters. It is up to us where, how, and why innovations take the route they take -- why we make them popular and successful or why they crash down. As almost all of us know, our society is highly dependent on technology. Here, you can find information and statistics of the growing number of data users in the United States.

It has become difficult for us not to communicate using some form of digital media technology. Most importantly, it is almost impossible to predict where diffusion of innovation is taking us. The revolution of technology and digital media erupted mainly in the 1990s, our generation, yet future innovations are highly unpredictable. Here is an short 20-minute documentary on the history of digital media.

 Like I mentioned earlier, this course will require a lot of effort and time. However, you WILL learn a lot. Most importantly, you will understand and see technology and digital media in a whole different perspective. Not to mention, this course will shed light into different perspectives of our society and generation that you might have never thought about before.