Memes & Memos
 
Undoubtedly.

Tomorrow, the graduate students in our emerging media class will be watching the Frontline documentary titled "Digital Nation" which first aired in February 2010. One point which struck me while watching the trailer was this statement:

"Every hour of a life on the screen is an hour not spent in the rest of life. If we're there, where aren't we?"

I've often pondered the same sentiment. What could we be missing while we are spending more and more time online? How does our time online affect our relationships and how we interact with one another? What is the proportion of our time online and offline is necessary to achieve balance personally, professionally, and socially?

The other concept in the back of my head is the reality of digital divide between those that have the means to access technology and those that do not. Does technology bring people closer together or pull them further apart? Whose point of view is not being represented online? Do we have a responsibility to represent these viewpoints online?

I'm looking forward to thinking about these topics and more throughout the semester. You can see the trailer for the Digital Nation documentary here.