In
today’s society, we take advantage of what we have learned and mold it into
something better. Douglas Rushkoff explains, “As we move into an increasingly
digital reality, we must learn not just how to use programs, but how to make
them.” He calls it, in simple terms, known as programmed or be programmed. Digital
technology is starting to control all aspects of our everyday lives. He argues
that digital technology is going to control us without even knowing it. If we
don’t control the digitalized culture, the culture will control us. In
addition, so many of us rely on the internet and that may cause problems socially.
An example in the book used is students are suddenly utilizing the internet, but
relying on Wikipedia for answers. Instead of taking the time to research the
answers of what you need, we are taking the most convenient way out and
suddenly using Wikipedia. We can agree Wikipedia is not a reliable source as it
comes from many different opinions from numerous amounts of people. In this
digitalized culture, we need to be cautious as Rushkoff explains, we need to be
more aware of our choices; therefore take action or you will be controlled.
He
points out ten commands that explain reasons to avoid being the victim of
getting programmed. Time is known as one
of the first commands. Rushkoff states, “We live in a continuous “now” and time
is always passing for us. Digital technologies do not exist in time, at all.” As
a result, time flies by in this fast paced culture. He further explains back
into time when the internet was connected through dial up, time was very slow.
People were actually patient to respond to each other in a thoughtful way.
Conversations were known as asynchronous, which meant that having an online
conversation took time. You actually had time to think about how you were going
to respond online without responding as quickly, like you would in a verbal
conversation. It becomes a problem because people are not thinking things
thoroughly before they respond and were not even aware of it. We need to be
more aware of the changes going on in technology and learn to control it.
Rushkoff
also explains how Gina is another example of one of the ten commands. She is
described as the social butterfly who is always trying to find the latest
parties to attend. As she puts too much time utilizing her social networks on
her phone, she doesn’t acknowledge the people she is with now. She is known as being
“everywhere at once,” the girl who is at the party without being at the party. Rushkoff
describes it as having an “always on relationship” with her phone and social
networks. Gina is too busy taking pictures with her friends, on networking
sites chatting and texting on her phone; she removes herself from the place she
is at disconnecting herself from everybody else. Ironically, the most social
girl with many friends is physically not social at all. Rushkoff explains, “Digital
networks are decentralized technologies making it suitable for long distance
communication and activities- but rather awful with what-or who- is right in
front of us.” As these social networks are
intended for people to come together and engage themselves in each other’s
lives; it is almost doing the opposite. It’s putting girls, like Gina, in a
situation where they are disconnecting themselves from everyone, physically. Gina
was not taking the time to engage with everyone at the party she attended. Instead,
she used her phone to find the latest place to be at, while being on networking
sites, texting, and taking pictures.
Rushkoff
also argues, “The digital realm is biased towards choice, because everything
must be expressed in the terms of a discrete, yes-or-no, symbolic language.” In
this digital culture, we love making decisions and having the option to have a
choice; but we do also have a choice to say no. He discusses, “Choice is less
about giving people what they want than getting them to take what the
choice-giver has to sell.” An example would be shopping online for clothes, and
based on what you have been looking at, they suggest more style similar to what
you are looking for. As convenient as this may be for us, technology has become
more advanced as we are becoming more predictable by the choices we make.
Although they are appearing to be giving us choices, in reality, they are
making the decisions for us, based on their research. We revolve ourselves and
focus on the websites we visit, applications we download, and companies we subscribe
to. We make choices and filter what we want to see in the “digital realm”, but
also have the decision to choose to not make a choice at all.
Although
Rushkoff argues that you can have the choice to not make a choice at all, I slightly
disagree with his arguments. I believe that keeping up with the trends and
utilizing social networking sites is important in this society. We do live in a
digitalized culture where technology is always taking the next step and is
constantly advancing. Although, I do believe it is important to take control of
how we use it in order to become more cautious and aware. By being aware and
more cautious, those in power making the decisions will not have total control.