Over the course of this class I have realized that I have been mostly concerned with the future of new media. Although it has been interesting to study specific elements of new media such as terms, memes and how the YouTube partner program works…I can never stop myself from thinking about future possibilities and consequences. I have adopted a cynical view of society ever since I first became exposed to classes that analyzed technology and new media. This class however, helped me to focus my attention on the present use of new media, even if just for a moment.
My favorite topic of the semester was Google because I learned a shocking amount of information. It is sad that I was previously unaware Google owned YouTube. I still remember the point that has resonated with me the most over the semester as it of course pertained to the future of Google. We, as a society, need to openly discuss new media in a critical space. When I interviewed Sut Jhally for our project, one thing he said was, “People think there is entertainment/media and reality. The two are separate things. However, there is no way to actually separate the two as the shape and create each other.”
If anything this class merely supported theories and ideas that I have been thinking over since I stepped on to this campus. Now that I am about to graduate, I am hoping I will keep a critical eye on the media, the internet and that damn Google Giant! I will be a socially conscious producer AND consumer of the internets. I will question the media I interact with, and I will probably discover a few important key terms on my own.
In conclusion, I am glad that I had the opportunity of meeting in a collective space and talking about relevant issues that seem to escape public airways. Hopefully, academia will keep on this path and increase new media and technological studies as the internet has become a shared global nation. The information provided by this class in combination with the Media Justice lecture I attended, pushed me to realizes that stopping unfair Net Neutrality laws and getting people to understand that the Time Warner/Comcast merger CANNOT HAPPEN is what is truly important to me.