anja's blog

When I'm thinking about my first encounter with new media, more specifically internet, I always remember the time when I was still in primary school in the mid 90s and one of my cousins went on an exchange program to South Carolina. At the time it was still considered a big deal if somebody went so far away and the States really seemed like the end of the world, especially as far as communication was concerned. Luckily the internet was already slowly infiltrating into our daily lives and so we had the opportunity to communicate via emails. I remember how difficult it was for me to switch from the traditional, handwritten letters, to the electronic way of writing, because if nothing else, I found emails so impersonal.

I must laugh at those times now, for a day doesn't go by that I don't ckeck my inbox at least twice a day and write at least a couple of emails. On a daily basis I use search engines for all sort of information, I read online newspapers, use digital libraries and other resources, read other people's blogs (so far I have been to lazy to set up one of my own), participate in online forums, every once in a while I make a purchase online and I almost always buy plane tickets (and other tickets if possible) online ... not to mention that I practically conduct another, virtual life when using (daily) Facebook, MSN and Skype (which in my opinion can be a real life savior!) ... which is terrific because thanks to these new technologies I am able to stay in touch with so many people from all around the world and suddenly everything and everybody seems so close ... As Thomas L. Friedman put it, the world is flat!

The reason I chose the seminar New media and society lies mostly in my wish to constantly learn and discover new possibilities that all the forms of digital communication in this globalized world give us. I find it fascinating how inevitably connected my life (professional and personal) is with internet and how impossible it would be to function without it! It's interesting, because I never thought of myself as a computer or internet "junky", for I have always been (and still am) an outdoor person, I love going to nature and "disconnect" completelly from this world that is spinning so fast ... But no matter how hard I try to avoid this "digitalization", it's always there and sooner or later I had to accept it and make the most of it. After all, even my fantastic trip to South America wouldn't be so perfect if it wasn't for internet (emails, Skype ...) !!!

And so, I hope that this seminar will help me understand even better the impact that internet has had and still has on our way of living, especially on every level of our social lives (different social networks, way of communicating ...). I am interested in researching different fields in the new media but one that draws my attention the most is the role of photography (specifically documentary photography) in the new media. Documentary photography was already a subject of my thesis where I focused on visual representations in the traditional, print media and now I would really like to deapen and extend my knowledge in the aspect of the new media. I hope that attending this seminar, reading various materials and engaging myself in a research will give me a better idea of the position and the role of visual representations, especially documentary photography in the new media.