Culture and the Media

Social necessities and the media go hand and hand, more so than you may even think. It goes beyond the basic combination of social media and into the social gatherings we attend. There are two things you begin doing with friends as a middle schooler that your parents are comfortable enough you going to without them. Those things are most likely the mall and the movie theater. The movie theater is the epitome of the media. And it continually affects the social outings we go to. But there are so many other things we do that are social but also highly media invasive. Like music? My car rides with my friends are defined by the music we blast in the speakers and that music could change genres at a drop of a hat. This is defined as generation download Print is dead. I am definitely a part of that generation, my iPod is not defined by one specific sound, instead, it is filled with a collection of songs I like from every single genre I listen to. Music has also become social media friendly as well. Spotify enables you to follow and be followed by friends and other music lovers. You can create your own playlists publicize them or keep them private all in the names as another social interaction. Meanwhile, musicians are also creating a new social experience beyond social media. Jeff Gomez explains that there are such things as fan-edited albums nowadays where fans serve as both the audience and semi-producer. The grammy winning artist Beck did this on his albums, The Information. Music is just a small part of this socialized industry. Name it and it has been socialized, TV, Youtube, Video games. They all have developed social aspects to include a wider audience and include fans in the experience. Tv shows tweet with fans while YouTubers create vlogs and interact in the comment section an attempt to gain followers. Video games now have settings where you can play with people across the country. As a result, everything is social and everything is fast pace! Where does that leave books? Books take time, they take brain power and patience to read. TV shows do not. We indulge in instant gratification as if it is natural and it slowly is becoming normal. This lessens our ability to deep read and focus on one thing at a single time. We hate commercials, we spend money on Netflix so we don't have to wait a week for the next episode to come out. We instantly download music that instantly shares to our computers and phones so that we do not have to wait to sync our phones. We wait for nothing and it has become a mindset, a lifestyle that is defining future technology. In order for books to succeed publishers must also take the mindset of "we want it now" according to Print is Dead. Stories must be supplied quickly in order to keep consumers interest.