digital society

Throughout human history there have been many technological achievements that have propelled us into a new era with their innovation. Things like the industrial revolution, automobiles, and electricity have changed the way we live our lives and will continue to have far-reaching and profound effects for millennia to come. However, of all our wonderful achievements, there is only one that stands out from the rest and will probably be considered the greatest turning point in our civilization for any length of time for the foreseeable future. That technological advancement is, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, the Internet. With unlimited potential for effortless communication around the world, the Internet is rapidly changing the way we live our lives. Whether you are a ‘digital immigrant’ or even a ‘digital nomad’, the consequences of having a global and collaborative interconnected network have surely affected you in some way. Whether it’s your daily commute, as highway light signals are now fine-tuned to customize for maximum efficiency and minimum wait time, or simply how you pay for your morning coffee at Starbucks, you’ve been affected in some way. manner. All over the world, products and services are being optimized to work with the Internet and the “digital society” we are rapidly creating. I am what could be called a ‘digital native’, someone who grew up around technology and always had it available. Through this education, I have had the opportunity to use the Internet to its full potential. The term ‘just google it’ is the answer to many questions I come across on a daily basis. In fact, I’m probably the shining example of the polar opposite of a feral child, a child who was supposed to have been raised by animals, in the wild, isolated from humans. Due to this upbringing, I am able to communicate and interact more efficiently with the world around me and it has made it much easier for me to become a productive and successful member of society. The Internet has also played a huge role in my personal socialization. In fact, my personal vision is intertwined with the Internet to the point that I don’t know who I would be if I was born 100 years ago. That being said, as a digital native (from the suburbs), this is my personal journal of how I became a member of our ever-changing digital society.

If there was a defining moment in my life where I could say “this is when I entered the digital society”, it would have to be Christmas Day when I was 5 years old. My parents had given me what I still think is the best gift of my entire life, a Sega Genesis game console. Since then I have been addicted to technology and all its wonders and have even formed and been part of several Peer Groups, for example my programming study group. But really, that game console was probably the biggest socializing agent I’ve ever experienced. Whether it was my first time or it was a big deal for me back then is irrelevant, the point is it happened and it affected me deeply. For many of today’s ‘digital immigrants’, not having experiences like the ones mentioned can lead them to a state of resocialization, learning the etiquette and rules of the Internet. It is from these kinds of experiences and interactions with our digital society that has helped me become the person I am and has led me to develop my ego.

Growing up in the age of Facebook, MySpace and Google has led to a more interconnected and easily accessible social life. Having such wonderful social communication also has its drawbacks. For example, when my parents were little, if they wanted to hang out with their friends, they had to ride their bikes to their friends’ house or at least ask one of their parents to drop them off. This is not the case in today’s society. Today, if a young person wants to connect with his peers, it’s as simple as flipping a switch on his Xbox, turning on his computer, or reaching into his pocket for his cell phone. Many would argue that this is making our society in general a much lazier and less active people. While this claim has some validity, it does not account for all the benefits of such interactions. For example, what starts with instant messaging your friends can lead to a better and easier communication channel that will be with you for the rest of your life and can help you in the “real world” of corporate America, better known as Anticipatory. Socialization. This is a skill and asset that I dare anyone to take for granted.

In closing, living in the digital society has better prepared me for a life in which more and more of our tasks are automated by computers or made to work more efficiently every day. Gone are the days when students wrote their sociology papers on typewriters (I’m currently producing this paper on my favorite laptop), and as we move into the future, it’s hard to know what’s in store for us. The manifest functions of the Internet are becoming clearer every day, but what we really need to focus on is what the latent functions may be. As new technologies are introduced almost at the speed of light from all corners of the earth, we as sociologists need to focus on the long-term effects of such a digital society on our children, because if you have the old enough to read this, then the future is no longer with you, it’s with your children. The effects of the Internet are still too early to see and need to be studied further to reach a positive conclusion. Hopefully our grandchildren will have a better answer as to the effects than we do. As a digital native, I’d like to leave you with a popular slang term among my peers: TTYL (More on that later).