A Retrospective on Humanities

            Through this past semester, my writing has definitely shown improvement. Through constructive criticism and conferences, I was able to focus more on the process of writing instead of only focusing on the beginning and end. I am guilty of being the occasional procrastinator but this class made me be more aware of the benefits of starting a paper early! As a Communications major I had some experience writing about the media, but the Humanities papers allowed me to focus on other interesting topics I never had a chance to write about before.

            My favorite papers assigned were ones regarding cinema. I’ve always had a passion for cinema and being able to analyze them was such an amazing experience. The arts are incredibly affected and guided by the audience. For example, the film Fatal Attraction changed the entire ending of the film just to give them the ending they wanted. Because of this course, I’ve decided to take two cinema classes next semester!

            In terms of research, I’ve learned to take full advantage of the USC Library database. No matter what the paper topic, I was always able to find countless studies and articles to help with my paper at the time. Additionally, the blog assignments allowed me to have a place to look back on interesting articles and YouTube clips that I had found during the research process.

            After participating in a blog for the end of the semester, I found that I enjoyed it more than I expected. For example, getting comments from classmates was a great way to gain perspective on my ideas. I definitely want to start another blog, perhaps focusing more on my last semester at USC and making sure I take full advantage of my final time here. 

Generational Divide

Without question there is definitely a generational divide between youth culture and older generations when it comes to technology usage. Numerous communication studies I’ve read have pinpointed the idea that youth grew up with this type of communication, so they see it as an everyday necessity. In the words of a sixteen-year-old media user, “Parents usually don’t know how important a tool the mobile has become in young people’s lives. They only think about the communicative function, not the social meaning” (Buckingham 1). Older generations have learned to exist as social beings without the crutch of technology, which naturally leads to a different perspective, and perhaps, also of media proliferation.

Younger generations, on the other hand, have grown up with digital media, and view it as an integral and even necessary part of social life. “Because of the always there, always on status of the mobile and the pace of exchange of information, and because the mobile is the key personal communication device for so many young people, it becomes important in establishing social norms and rules, and in testing one’s own position in relation to the peer group” (Buckingham 1).

While one can certainly use new technology to promote social relations, when used in excess, the same tool used to connect with others can be used to disconnect from others.  For example, there are countless times I see teenagers with their phone on the table at a restaurant, as parents see no need to partake in such an activity.

I think the generational divide may be one of the reasons parents are so apprehensive about their children having Facebook accounts. It is the fear of the unknown that has parents concerned. I definitely agree that there should be stronger privacy settings on social media sites and that children should not be allowed to get mobile phones at a such a young age!

Hart Study: Motives for High School and Undergraduate College Students Using Facebook

While digital media and mobile devices provide an undeniable practical function, communication scholars have become increasingly interested in their social function. The Hart Study is no exception. The Hart study compared the  behavioral and attitudinal outcomes of high school students to resulted behavioral and attitudinal outcomes of undergraduate college students. At the core of this change is the increasingly complex notion of self-identity and relationships. With its ability to transcend time and space, digital communication divorces the mental self from the physical self. 

As a result, “self- identity is no longer one-dimensional and stable; rather the self exists in multiple planes of existence” (Hart). Hart continues by stating that the Internet and social media are in large part responsible for extending such “planes of existence”. Through using online profiles, media users can engage in identity-construction: building profiles to virtually represent one’s identity. “Profile creators construct narratives of idealized selves, and the coherence of these narratives are ensured through a multitude of impression management features” (Hart). So rather than a online identity that accurately reflects one’s true self, users strategically select visual and textual data and project attitudes and preferences consistent with how they would like to be perceived (Hart). Mobile devices, particularly today’s “smartphones,” grant users unlimited access to their online identities. Together, digital media and mobile media devices have the combined power to keep media users in constant contact with their social networks. 

The results of the Hart study showed that high school students were motivated to visit Facebook to pass time. In contrast, relationship maintenance was the most prominent motive of undergraduate college students to visit Facebook. The amount of Facebook use, frequency of Facebook use, satisfaction with Facebook, and attachment to Facebook were not notably different between the high school and Undergraduate students tested. Two of The descriptors with the biggest contrast included the duration of Facebook use and amount of Facebook friends. In addition, undergraduate college students had been using Facebook for a longer period than high school students, which is something to keep in mind. Additionally, high school students had significantly more friends on Facebook than undergraduate college students.

Hart, Michael J. "A Study on the Motives of High School and Undergraduate College Students for using the Social Network Site Facebook." Liberty University, 2010. United States –Virginia: Dissertations and Theses A&I: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection;ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT).