Unless you’ve been watching repeats of “Only Fools and Horses” for the past ten years and haven’t ventured outside or read any newspapers then you’ll be aware of the change that has happened. The 19th Century saw the Industrial revolution, the 1960s brought us the sexual revolution and now we have the digital revolution.
I have had mixed feelings about this so called revolution, as I have discussed in previous posts. The impact it is having on my chosen profession is significant, and therefore the impact it is having on me is significant. To deal with this I have tried to befriend this new technology, with varied success.
There are aspects of the digital revolution that I think are simply brilliant. The fact that anyone with a laptop and some photos can make a little narrative about anything they want, and publish it to the World, is in my opinion genius. Digital storytelling shows that it’s not just Hollywood that can make you laugh, smile or cry. I had loads of fun coming up with my effort. .
Blogging, despite the views of people like Steve Lovelady who thinks bloggers are “salivating morons”, does offer people the chance of insightful conversation with people from all over the World. My experience with blogs has made me believe that they are brilliant tools for people to talk about specific issues, niche subjects and raise awareness. But never should they take over the traditional media. There is strong evidence that shows the digital revolution has left some behind, and we must always remember them.
For all the good the digital revolution has done, it has also done some things that it should be made to go and sit in the corner for. With so much content being posted online all day every day, finding quality journalism has become a more difficult. This concern has been around for some time, and has only intensified of late.
Another problem with the digital revolution is that of churnalism. Larry Kramer once said after ‘Google News’ was short listed for an award, “that’s like nominating the Yellow Pages for a National Magazines Award”. To be fair to the digital revolution this isn’t only an internet specific problem.
Whether you think it’s a good or bad a thing, like those before it, the digital revolution is here stay. My movements will be forever known to every man woman and child in my network thanks to Twitter and Facebook and I have come to accept this as a positive thing. I can instantly contact anyone who I’ve ever said hello to if I want, and journalistically that’s a really useful tool to have in your back pocket. I can read Mr Jones from Tycroes’ opinion on income tax, or watch a story about a man’s dog that brings a tear to my eye.
The digital revolution has opened up the World to everyone, and if you have the patience to trawl through the rubbish there are scores of gems to find.
Hwyl fawr
Steffan
Image used courtesy of ninakulhawy @ Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninakulhawy/2356930878/
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