Media Childhood & Feed Review

(1)Media Memoir: When I had to sit down and think of my exposure to media as a child, I discovered that a great deal of my media exposure was from my peers rather than my family. I grew up in Darien, CT, about an hour north of NYC, the heart of Fairfield County. I was an only child until I was 8, so the rules were quite different in my development than that of my sisters, in that I was the first child and my parents were just figuring out how they wanted to raise their child.
In my childhood, I was not allowed to watch TV, only the news and only if my parents were already watching. Movies were certainly allowed, and I loved them, and I pushed the boundaries of my parents no movies over PG policy on many occasions (I won a few times). I guess not instead, or because of, but I am sure that in some way the lack of televisions influence in my childhood may have helped me develop my love of reading, and sports. (Also the majority of my friends when I was very young, had parents who refused TV and other influences)
Now my sister is a completely different story. She was born when I was eight, and my parents had already played (rulemeister) to their first child, so Molly got the abbreviated rules of a nearly ten year old child rather than that childhood I had received. As my television restrictions were that of no TV at all other than news, my parents became lenient, now putting on childrens television for Molly, believing that she could be entertained and perhaps learn, while they go their errands done.
Perhaps its the changing the global American psyche from my first years, and my sisters, or perhaps its just a betterment in technology, the ability to reach and span socioeconomic gaps, find supple minds further and further away from home. I did not grow up in the internet age, although I am a slave to its influence in society today, my sister however was a member of the internet age. She was using the internet to talk to people, before my parents even knew we had gotten a router, and it used to show a lot in her daily interactions with people and family, a little reserved, a little awkward.
As I was typing this though, I found that I don't think either of us were molded by media, sure the nature of the human experience is through social connections and in some terms that has become media's MO, but it really is what you are taught at that most important of developmental stages. I feel that my parents did a good job raising us to be social, moral, and understanding people, and although media plays a big role in development these days, its the "harness" you have on what your child filters and what he lets mold him, that makes a difference.

(2) "The Children of Cyberspace": This NYTimes article spoke bluntly on the scientific and future repercussions of this instant media age, as well as the outstanding developmental deviations which future generations may inherit from this technological age. What stood out most for me, was the discussion of the "multitasker," the idea that those not under the age of 20 can multitask up to 7 different technologies, and that for those in their thirties can only handle about 5 and a half. I feel this fact can be connected to a large number of stress and study disorders, like ADHD, and people with panic attacks, the constant flow of instant connection, and the isolation that comes along with social connections through technology, I believe is having a terrifying effect on future generations. I feel that as technology becomes obsolete and the next generation supersedes it, I believe that in this technological climate, certain necessary social functions will be replaced by technologies new instant format, and when you forget the past, the self no longer exists.

(3) "The Machine is Using Us": the video by Michael Wesch, hints at the idea that the nature of the internet and communications has changed, and that "the machine" or the heart of our connectedness, our channel for interaction in the digital world, has become a tool that learns from our constant interaction with it. Its important I think to understand that what Wesch is in turn defining, is the ways in which this "machine" has to be managed so that in order for it to be appreciated rather than abused, it must be regulated in order to protect the people using it. I found it incredibly interesting, the nature of the development of new forms of structure and definition for the technology of this modern age, and the ways in which development can in turn be a devolution in terms of the nature of the content. It will be fun to see how all facets of technology develop in our lifetime, and its important to understand but also know when to turn it off.