What Is Authenticity In The Era Of Digital Technology - Research Paper Example

? 19 November What is authenti in the era of digital technology? We live presently in the age of digital technology and the present generation is literally addicted to the use of technology due to which a vast amount of research is carried out over the past many years regarding multiple kinds of effects produced by it on human life. Cellular phones which were seldom seen only a few years back are now seen everywhere providing excellent means of facilitated communication between people and the Internet has also played a revolutionary role in helping people access anything in the world through only a few clicks. Research has repeatedly stressed that teen involvement in different types of electronic activities like chatting either via cellular phones or the internet has increased to such an extent that the youth presently has become extremely obsessive with using various communicative media. Burge’s research is worth mentioning here as it deals with highlighting how people in relationships engage in emotional communication via different media like the internet, cellular phones, and visual texts. This research is based on contemplating how technology influences the coordination between two people in a relationship. For this purpose, people’s behavior when they interact via communicative media is observed and later assessed with the help of their internal experiences. The purpose of this research paper is also to evaluate the relationship between technology and communication in an attempt to answer the bigger question of what is authenticity in the present digital age. Just like the Industrial revolution brought about an immense change in the lives of workers, the technology also in the present age has totally changed the way of communication. It has enormously changed the way people communicate with each other and even impacted their emotions. This is because “sociological, psycholinguistic, and interpersonal studies suggest that people have non-information related goals in moment to moment interaction” (Clark, cited in Burge). Non-information related goals refer to the desire to convey or communicate emotion which becomes especially important when people engage in close bonding. The researchers debating on the subject of authenticity in the present era of digital technology often carry research to find out if “current communication technologies support a full range of communication activities and purposes, most notably the communication of emotion?” (Burge). The need to realize the impact produced by different communicative media on the communication of emotions should be acknowledged by everyone. It is argued that authenticity is constrained by digital communication as this form of communication does not support a wide range of communication purposes like conveying emotions. This is because people increasingly fake their true identities when communicating via Internet mediums like Facebook or MySpace because they feel insecure about sharing their real feelings otherwise. Not only that teenagers have become addicted to using IMs to communicate with each other, research has it that “many companies have found that employees benefit from text-based interactions as a result of introducing instant messaging systems into the workplace” (Erickson and Kellogg, cited in Burge). Such changed pattern of communication thanks to the widespread use of mobile phones and the internet has led to the development of a new way of building relationships. The concept of online dating is just one product of this new pattern of technology influenced communication. People in the old age had to practically meet somewhere or write letters to each other to further relationship as a way of getting to know each other. This all changed with the advent of technology because now people enjoy the limitless freedom of communicating with each other though they may be separated by thousands of miles. There are limitless opportunities now available to establish relationships and widen the social circle which has made the people think, learn, and act in a profoundly different way to that of people from the old age. This also implies that technology has not only enormously affected the way people communicate but it has changed the communication itself in context of its nature and pattern. “People have communicative needs that they seek to gratify through media use” (Burge) which means that technology has made the world undergo a gigantic cultural transformation to the extent that it is suggested now that modern culture is satirical of the notion of authenticity, that there could be anything authentic in the world anymore. There is not much authenticity to be found in the present era of digital age because with the help of advanced medical technologies and pharmaceutics, people can take extreme measures like cosmetic surgery which could interfere with their respective authenticities. People in the present age, especially youngsters, use a lot of steroids and stimulants to excel in sports and academics and this pattern also interferes with authenticity in the present age of technology. Moreover, there was a lot of authenticity in the old age when people tried other ways than the internet or mobile phones to establish relationships. This is because many times people do not know about the real details of the other person they communicate with via online dating or facebooking, or texting. People typically hide a lot of information about themselves when communicating via such media which could produce a huge emotional influence. MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter all display profiles of people which are not always based on their real identities so as to fake authenticity. It is suggested that the communication technologies must serve the benefits and services of the humanity in such a way that authenticity is preserved and left undamaged but suggestion is one thing, accomplishing another. Research has it that an inherent paradox regarding digital preservation is that “on the one hand, it aims to deliver the past to the future in an unaltered, authentic state. On the other hand, doing so inevitably requires some alteration” (Adam 602). The youth nowadays is extremely occupied by the communication technologies especially the Internet which has the huge potential to build relationships by providing means of communication regardless of factors like gender, age, or distance. “The new technologies allow people to meet each other beyond the confines of space and of their own culture, creating in this way an entirely new world of potential friendships” (Benedictus XVI, cited in Liberia Editrice Vaticana). Though in this way communicative media in the technology era provide a great means of establishing relationships and serve the needs of the people, awareness about the risks associated with this type of communications should also speed up. Research has it that people, especially youth, are increasingly getting distracted because new communicative technologies have their attention all the time. Now the subject of authenticity is much debated in the present age as nearly “everyone is confronted by the need for authenticity and reflection” (Benedictus XVI, cited in Liberia Editrice Vaticana). Authenticity is damaged especially by the limitations typical of digital communication. These limitations are identified in the address of Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of the 45th World Communications Day. He talked about the authenticity of life in the era of digital technology and claimed that “the one-sidedness of the interaction, the tendency to communicate only some parts of one’s interior world, the risk of constructing a false image of oneself” (Benedictus XVI, cited in Liberia Editrice Vaticana) all reflect the limits of digital communication and set it apart from the other form of communication in which not only data is exchanged but information is also shared. The limitations of digital communication can drag a person towards self-indulgence and limit the progress of authenticity also. Moreover, it is also implied that there are certain constraints associated with digital communication and “media constraints inherent in computer-mediated technology can be exacerbated during high-stakes communication” (Burge). Communication in the digital era does not appear as a form of sharing because “in the digital world, transmitting information increasingly means making it known within a social network where knowledge is shared in the context of personal exchanges” (Benedictus XVI, cited in Liberia Editrice Vaticana). Concluding, this much becomes clear from the above discussion that though all astounding and amazing communicative technologies have facilitated human life on many levels, it is also true that this age of technology has eventually developed a new kind of life concept for the younger generation especially. Communicative media are now used in so many different ways by different age groups that much research is done on the complexity of the way the Internet and cell phones are used around the world. Communication in the present age also known as digital communication is not one by which information is shared between two people as it is only reflective of exchange of data. It is the choice of the person engaged in communication to hide or reveal any part of information about him/herself and it also depends on him/her alone to fake the identity and present a false image of him/herself for the world to appreciate. It is a deplorable reality that the decline in authenticity in the present era has affected the process of establishing relationships in a negative way. It should be remembered that authenticity is important for developing close bonds which is why attempts are made now and then to preserve it amidst cultural transformation brought on by technology. Works Cited Adam, Sharon. “Preserving authenticity in the digital age.” Library Hi Tech 28.4 (2010): 595-604. Print. Burge, Jamika D. “Communication of Emotion in Mediated and Computer-Mediated Contexts: Face-To-Face, Telephone, and Instant Messaging.” 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. . Liberia Editrice Vaticana. “MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI FOR THE 45th WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY: Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age.” 05 Jun. 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. . Read More