Escaping the Maelstrom

Technology is projected from everywhere and is also the projector. It surrounds you and their is no way to escape its effects because society always seems to adopt and adapt to the newest forms of technological advancements. I believe this is due to intrigue. When a new piece of technology such as the iphone or ipod hits the market for the first time consumers are seduced by the freshness of the product, the dream it fulfills, its function, and the effect this technology is having on the people within their social networks. Once a product is adopted into the lives of enough people people start to become dependent upon that technology and its use becomes unavoidable. It is in this way and others that technology becomes like an inescapable vortex.

Marshal McLuhan felt that "pattern recognition" was necessary to understand and escape the grasp of the media environment. I feel, however, that he was far to intelligent for the vast majority of the population and was misunderstood by the masses and doubted due to the specialization study that comprised his colleagues, and critics. Though he most certainly had an effect on the way media ecology is studied and understood today. However I feel he would disagree with the way it was taught.

Facebook has permeated every moment of our lives. It has become the ultimate networking site. I would be hesitant to say that it enhances our ability to communicate because of some unintended effects that I will mention later. Facebook is an extension of our mouths and our ability to speek, our ability to talk on the phone, to email, and even text message.

This technology will soon completelty replace our need for telephones. AIM has most definitely been affected. It is beginning to replace the bulletin board and fliers as you can now just send out mass messages via your Facebook account.

Facebook has retrieved the idea of mass communication of information without seeing the sender or reciever. Therefor one might say that it brings back the idea of the telegraph or the person letter.

Earlier I stated that I was hesitant to say that Facebook enhances our ability to talk and this is my reasoning; its unintended effects. The reverse as Marshall McLuhan would put it. Facebook has allowed students to speek to each other in class instead of paying attention to the instructor. The instructor won't even be able to tell. People have become addicted to it and rarely ever log off. The worst unintended effect however is an increasing phobia "talking on the phone". I have met many people who are scared and very uncomfortable with talking on the phone. Facebook is one of the reasons that this is increasing so rapidly. We are forgetting how to actually speek. This is very disturbing to me.

We as designers must choose wisely what products to promote and how to promote them because we are the ones that create the intrigue amongst the consumers initially. We are the ones that sell them the dream. We hold the future in our hands. Let us just hope that what we sell are dreams and not nightmares.