Friday, October 8, 2010

More thought....

Reading my above work I have realised I can continue my findings further. I was originally planning on posting a second blog highlighting the cons of "Professional Communication Technologies". However, I have realised that having researched indepth through firstly re-reading the Readers we have been provided with and secondly accessing other students blogs I feel I have a greater ream of thoughts to process.

I would like to start with my opening statements that "We don't realise just how much we rely on this incredible tool on a day-to-day basis. Nowadays in our line of work we would struggle drastically without this necessary source. When the internet was first created nobody could imagine how this remarkable invention would sculpt our lives, both professionally and personally." Well this is very accurate but unfortunately shows the growing partition of "real" life and "virtual" life. As many of you are more than aware, the Performing Arts industry employs people of all ethnicities, ages and backgrounds. We are still in a society where internet access isn't readily available 24/7 for everyone and that those who rely on public services- such as the local library- may lose out on online submission deadlines if they cannot get to a computer in time. So is this discrimination?

This then leads onto the subject of those who do have round-the-clock internet access. I pose the question "Is a dependence being created in which people are reliant on the internet?"

Case scenario 1: People who originally would conduct their weekly shop in a supermarket have now chosen to instead enjoy the luxury of online shopping. Sure, there are many benefits of this- saving petrol, not having to take the kids out, being less tempted to add 'extras' toyour basket- but there are many negatives too. Those who don't engage in much social activity are diminishing their chances of meeting new people and interacting with others. They can't be 100% sure that produce delivered will match their own expectations and also they limit the options of venturing out and trying diffrent products. a) new items and b) alternative proprieters.

Case scenario 2: Youtube and alternative methods of creative resourcing. As I have previously mentioned, Youtube is an excellent website for inspiration and sourcing different topics of interest. Many dancers find posts of dance classes online and download these for personal use, whether it is for teaching purposes or as audition material. This is great for occasional use but the downside for this is that dancers and teachers alike can become complacent with their own training and progession, although they try to keep up with the times, if you are not in a "live" class the emotive content and atmoshphere can be lost in translation.

Case scenario 3: Friendships. Most people own a Facbook account or something of a similar ilk presenting a new calibre of friendships. We rely on being able to quickly post a message as a form of communtication and let this overshadow actually meeting up face to face. This is great for long distance relationships but is gradually causing existing unions to dramatically waver.

There is of course the issue of privacy when using Facebook as we can't always control who views what. This links in the problems of casting agents and employers as effectively they have the ability to see all aspects of your online profile which projects your private life.  This then creates the issue of being able to limit damage control.

Plagerism is something that comes in many forms. Hackers can steal our identity which contains details of professional credits, personal information and work such as what I'm typing now! We can't determine what will happen to our posts after we have submitted them virtually and leave an option for people to take advantage of our vunerability. You don't have to think in depth anymore if you so please- for example, so many highschool children have the opportunity to access previous years work and pass it off as their own.

The internet may also contribute to the recession in a longer timespan. If websurfers can receive free internet connection and locate illegal or morally questionable material then who is paying the costs?

1 comment:

  1. Hi Stacey, the issue with plagiarism is something I mentioned on my blog as it is something I have experienced in my school. I think the responsibility lies a lot with the teachers, they need to be quick to identify plagiarised work and pull up the pupil for doing it.Trying to Pass off someone else's work as your own is definitely not a new concept, but the internet has made it easier for a lot of people. It is something they have to learn as early on in the education as possible as Universities as so strict about it.

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