In order to fully understand how connected our world currently is, we can take a look at the recent Osama Bin Laden slaying. As soon as the news broke that U.S. forces had killed Bin Laden people were flocking to Facebook and other social networking sites to confirm the news. Thousands of people attending the Philadelphia Phillies baseball games were shown in the crowd staring at their phones, awaiting the news. A man in Pakistan was even noted as giving a live play-by-play of the raids on Twitter. These examples show how influenced and reliant the world is on social networking.
Sohaib Athar, an IT consultant who lives a few miles away from Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottaad, Pakistan, was the man responsible for live-tweeting the Bin Laden attack. His first tweet read: “Helicopter hovering above Abbottaad at 1AM (is a rare event)”. Although Athar did not know he was directly reporting world news, he was. He immediately began accumulating thousands of followers on Twitter who wanted to hear more from him. Were people rushing to news sources or government forums? No. People were relying on social networking to get their news.
During the Philadelphia Phillies baseball game on Sunday night, the news of Bin Laden’s death seemed to erupt at once. People were shown looking at their phones and showing other people the news they were reading on their phones. Once enough people understood what was going on, the crowd began to chant “USA!” for over 5 minutes. Would this have been possible 10 years ago? The answer is no. We are in a modern state where technology is dominating our world. Wherever we go, to a baseball game, the movies, dinner, etc, we can be immediately interrupted by our digital devices if there is pressing enough news.
What does this digital domination mean for our society? This new phenomena can be viewed as being a positive and a negative. It is beneficial to have a media outlet which allows people to post breaking news so others can see it. On the other hand, with the amount of information being transferred through digital devices it makes us more reliant on those devices. It persuades people to check their social networks sites regularly to make sure there is something that they did not miss. We are in the age of technology, and this presence of technology was clearly evident on Sunday, May 1 with the breaking news of Osama Bin Laden’s death. We must ensure that the benefits of technology persuade us to become reliant slaves of that same technology.
Video: Phillies Fans Chant “USA” After News of Bin Laden’s Death
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/man-who-live-tweeted-bin-laden-raid-talks-to-abc15
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/video-phillies-fans-chant-%E2%80%9Cusa%E2%80%9D-after-news-of-bin-laden%E2%80%99s-death
Good topic. Reliance on the new digital world is a huge change throughout many communities all over the world. It is known to have its pros and cons just like anything else out there. But is technology really a must? In some instances yes. The advancements in cancer research, machinery, etc, is great. But is the advancements in video games, televisions, and cellular phones really necessary? My personal belief is that some of these new technologies, including the involvement of social networking, is dumbing us down. Communication skills and such are declining due to the advancements.
ReplyDeleteThere is an interesting debate that comes of this, are we as a society too dependent on social media, if so, is it really that bad. I liken it to the use of fossil fuel around the world. We have come far with fossil fuels, made incredible machines that can travel thousands of miles per hour. However, how are we to survive if the fossil fuel is gone, how are people going to handle it if the social network goes down due to power outages etc.? Good post!
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