As we continue on through the fast-paced course that is DIGC202 - I realise that essentially, we are being shown a small piece of the puzzle each week about the new media industry that is THE INTERNET and Global Networks. Each week, we discuss the benefits this medium has given us, as well as debate the ethical issues which arise which contradict our society and cultural conventions as we know it.
This week, we looked at the idea of how being constantly connected can have quite the impact on our work lives. M Gregg writes a really comprehensive and thought provoking article about this very topic - using the term "function creep" - where the workplace is now flexible, thanks to the internet, so we find ourselves sometimes called to work outside of work hours, away from the workplace. It's a great article and I definitely recommend you give it a peruse. Essentially - it looks like the boundaries that existed in the past in regards to work and leisure have become blurred. Work being something you do, rather than a place that you go - and with our handy little smartphones in our pockets, we can take our workplace with us wherever we go! Bradwell puts it simply: Time outside of work has become a precious commodity. Elise and Matt both shed some great ideas about this work/leisure clash and the effects if you wanted to read further into the topic.
It's becoming obvious to me that we are indeed living what Deuze calls a "liquid life" - “a precarious life, lived under conditions of constant uncertainty.” New information, products, and ideas are being produced every second of every day which can be sent to us at anytime on our phones, emails and laptops without our control. Honestly, sometimes it can be hard to keep up. Technology has allowed us to live our lives at such a fast pace compared to the past (where instantaneous communication was not possible) that it seems to make sense to me that the things we do in life such as work and leisure will become, consequently, fast-paced too.
So it seems that the great convenience of instantaneous communication and networked societies has a price. As Deuze quotes: "each year we have to work harder in our free time to consume all those things that we have been working harder to produce in our work time". We are addicted. We WANT to be connected. As much as we say we don't want a world where work can reach us in the privacy of our homes - if we know there is a message about work ready and waiting on our phones - let's face it, we will want to know what it says. If you really don't want to have your privacy and leisure time interrupted, then it's your choice to turn off communication and switch off - most will choose not to though.
Bradwell estimates that people spend an average of twelve hours a day using media. "Media has become such an integrated part of our lives that most of the time we are not even aware we are using media." It's just a part of life - and it is a picture of the fast-paced life that we now lead. There's no turning back and we will evolve to be able to handle it. I think most of us are handling it OK......
I feel pre-tty bad for work-a-holics though...
