Recently, I decided it was time I did something about the outdated Nokia 3200 I was using and succumbed to the momentum of the iPhone, a plague also discussed by Hannah. Was anything wrong with the once popular 3200? No. Did it fulfill what I believed to be the main functions of a mobile? Yes; it enabled messages, calls and even took pictures. But was this enough? Apparently not.
The pervasiveness of media in contemporary society has pressured me to believe that I must have a phone with a multitude of applications and 2G internet (even though I have access to a computer at work, uni or home). Yes, like Stacey, I believe we are living in media, rather than with it. Deuz (2011, 4) furthers this point arguing “Our experience of the world in a media life perhaps must be seen as a world where we truly have individual and collective control over reality”.
By living in media, we have more easily become artists of our lives. Similar to the ideas explored in The Truman Show, in our 'live-in' media lifestyles, which may include television viewing, use of Facebook, Youtube and text messaging, we now have avenues to technologically manipulate, edit and construct our idealised versions of reality. It can be as easy as deleting a comment we had previously written on Facebook. Evidently, reality is what we make of it.
References
Amazon.com. “The Truman Show (1998)”. Accessed April 4, 2011. http://www.amazon.com/Truman-Show-Jim-Carrey/dp/6305252521
Deuze, M. 2011. “Media Life”. Media, Culture & Society 33 (1): 137-148.
FOKal inc. 2007. “I Love You More Than My iPhone Valentine’s Cards”. Image. Accessed April 4, 2011. http://www.fokal.com/f-0904/i-love-you-more-than-my-iphone-valentines-card
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