Technology life

Technology development is so rapid these years that someone begins to worry about that if human would be ruled by technology one day. This reminds me a movie which I watched few years ago. I Robot is a science-fiction film. The story took place in 2035, in which robots are widespread and used as servants for various public services. They are regarded as human friends and loyal to their hosts. There are three laws to ensure the robots are perfect and safe to use. However, some robots break the laws and hurt human. The main character tries to investigate the incident and discover that these robots may govern the world in the future. Let’s enjoy the trailer of the movie.

Due to different affordances and constraints, technology controls us, but at the same time, we also control technology. Apple invented lots of controversial devices over years like latest iPad2 and iPhone 4. The iPad 2 allows us to access the Internet with a bigger screen and lighter device as well as seeing people (face time) anytime such as on MTR or gathering with friends. But it also makes us difficult to concentrate on the MTR, we may focus on the videos and miss the station.

Our social practices are also changed and controlled by technology. It is rare to see people browsing the web, watching video, playing games using mobile phones on pubic transportation few years ago. Now, thanks to the invention of smart phones, it is so common to see people accessing the web and checking Facebook on pubic transportation.

On the other hand, we also control the technology. Latest technology always have loophole and “smart” people use these loophole to control or adapt the technology advancement. The most popular one is definitely Jailbreak. People Jailbreak iPhone4 to enjoy free Apps.

Although technology and people influence each other, I think technology controls or influences people more than the way we control it. You may argue that technology is invented by human. That’s true! But only a small proportion of human are smart enough and eligible to control the technology. Most people, like you and me, actually enjoy the benefits bought by technology and controlled by technology in a way that we even don’t conscious!

Social networked life

We are inevitably living in a social networking environment with the establishment of numerous social networking sites. The most popular one for me is definitely Facebook. With the use of Facebook, I keep in touch with friends, even the ones we don’t know very much about them, communicate with friends, play games, make new contacts and promote my modeling job.

I have 442 friends in Facebook. However, there are some unknown friends. I don’t know even why they are accepted. It makes me confused that do I really have connection with all the friends. Let’s find out the answer with Friend Wheel. 

Now, I can identify different kinds of friends. The different clusters that make up my network are basically my primary school classmates, secondary school classmates, associate degree classmates, university classmates, models, photographers and unknown “friends”. The ones whom I have strong ties are primary school classmates, secondary school classmates and university classmates. They are the active members on my wall. They post comments on my wall and comment on my photos and I also make comments back. People whom I know from my work and unknown friends have weak ties with me. I am also surprised to find out that who the connectors between different clusters are. 

The people whom I have “strong weak ties” are models and photographers. Actually, I don’t always communicate with my model friends as with the active members on my Facebook as some of them are only “friends of friends” But I can know what job they are going to attend via “activities” and I can apply the job via them as well. Moreover, they also act as bridges between me and different photographers and model agencies. They may know some model agencies and photographers very well. Thus, they can refer jobs to me and I have a higher opportunity to win that job. If I know the model agencies in my own, they may not trust me as a stranger.

The “strong weak ties” is really useful in my modeling job hunting!

Standard language no longer exsits?

Due to the advanced development of technology, people not only change their communication practices, but also the language involved. One of the significant and controversial language features is abbreviation. Abbreviated language is really common nowadays and people use it on texting, Facebook, msn and even academic writing.

Some critics associate the declining English standard in Hong Kong with the use of this form of language. This contradicts some research findings. I learnt from the lecture that there is research showing students who use SMS language more do better in standardized tests. This really surprises me. Further investigation may be needed to tell the answer.

For me, I am not addicted to abbreviation. I still use complete sentences and full spelling when I chat with friends in msn and Facebook. Although it takes me longer time to type the words and compose the sentences, I believe it can keep my standard of English. Practice makes perfect!!!!!!

But the significant linguistic feature in my online communication practice is code mixing. As a bilingual person created by the education system, code mixing is a very natural behavior. When I forget the spelling of a word or how to type a Chinese word, I use other language to substitute.

I discover another interesting linguistic feature from my friends. Some of my friends use combination of Pinyin and Phonetic. They create the spelling of the words according to the Cantonese pronunciation. For example, they use “mug yeh” for “what” and “mo liu” for “very boring and nothing to do”. I really have difficulty in understanding this kind of language. I think they can create the spelling because they have high proficiency in both English and Mandarin. When they combine these two languages to produce a Cantonese pronunciation, they think they are speaking Cantonese. 

Information overload

Nowadays, information is everywhere. We are flooded by piles of information everyday even though we don’t leave home. The information comes from the Internet, TV, radio, newspaper and mobile phone etc. I love sitting on the sofa and watching TV in my free time. I can receive different kinds of information by watching different kinds of TV programs. However, one of the constraints is that we are only the “information receivers” in front of the TV. We have no control on the types of programs or information we want.

Thanks to the advancement of technology, we can be the “information creators” now. We can create own information by updating status on Facebook and blogs, uploading videos on YouTube. On the other hand, we create academic information by writing papers and assignments.

The high accessibility of different kinds of information really makes our lives more convenient, but at the same time, it also makes our lives more dangerous. The more information available to us, the more difficult we select them. As everyone can upload information on the Internet, we have to be very careful when we select what information to believe or not to believe.

I would like to share a video with all of you. The video is about information overload in digitized world. 

My digital life

Post-80s are unequivocally addicted to digital technologies. It is interesting to see almost 9/10 of them use Facebook, text friends, play games on their iPhones in all kinds of public transport. It seems that we cannot survive without digital technologies.

For me, although I don’t have iPhone, I rely on digital media very much in my daily life. I chat with friends on MSN everyday, text frequently, check Facebook whenever I have time, watch videos on YouTube and surf the Internet.

Among all the digital technologies I use, my favorite is definitely Facebook. I use Facebook to update my status, share my life with my friends and know more about my friends. Actually, we don’t necessarily have to communicate with each others but by reading their posts, we can know more about them. As a part time model, Facebook is a very good tool for me to share my photos with people who have common interest. Facebook allows me to add different photographers as friends and see their works. Sometimes, I gain job opportunity!!!!!

This semester, I take Language and Digital Media as one of my electives. Under the great influence of new technologies, I am interested to know how our communication patterns are shaped by different digital technologies. I believe I can get the answer after finishing this course.