Blog #13: Who Owns the Media

Reingold’s concept of “smartmobs” is highly relevant in my own life in terms of new forms of communication via advancing technology. As this past year has been my first year away from home, technology has been the link that has helped me stay connected to friends and family from home. There are few days that go by that I do not text or make a phone call to connect with people who are otherwise out of contact. I have grown heavily dependent on the services such smartmobs provide because it is imperative to me to remain up to date with certain contacts. Even more crucial than cell phones, the internet has helped me maintain contact with multiple people through social networking sites and video chatting via skype. Another aspect of the internet that Reingold mentions is the convenience of sharing information regarding reviews of certain services. This aspect has been extremely beneficial to me when deciding upon classes and being able to read reviews of professors for every course on ratemyprofessor.com. Furthermore, Reingold is particularly fascinated with the timeline of such advancing technology and just how quickly these modes of communications have expanded. Like Reingold I find the acceleration of such a technology to be of great interest because it invites intriguing expectations for future technology, which Reingold predicts will be “an entirely new medium.” However, as Reingold also acknowledges, the more advanced the technology, the less privacy can be achieved. Therefore, it is imperative to greet new technology with not only great anticipation, but a just amount of trepidation as well.