Why Women Shall Inherit The Earth, And Why Social Media All But Guarantees It

Remember the good old days? When dial-up AOL was the cutting edge of technology, when all facets of our media were controlled by men, and when you wouldn't think twice about sitting next to Pee-wee Herman in a movie theater? Yeah well those days are dead. I'll let you research AOL and Pee-wee on your own, and instead focus in on the one regarding men dominating the media. While sexism no doubt played a significant role in why this came to be. I wonder if thats all there is to it. I believe that, even if sexism was completely taken out of this equation, woman may still be at a disadvantage in the mainstream media simply because of the different ways in which men and women communicate. For the first time, it looks like women may have the upper hand.

In addition to my interests in the study of social media, I am fascinated with theories in interpersonal communication. Particularly those dealing with the different ways in which men and women communicate. The book, "You Just Don't Understand" by Deborah Tannen depicts a number of different communication styles, some of which men tend to favor, and other women prefer. Report-talk versus rapport-talk.

Report-talk is the form in which men seem to be most comfortable speaking in. Mrs. Tannen discribes this as, "...(Report-talk) is primarily a means to preserve independence and negotiate and maintain status in a hierarchical social order. This is done by exhibiting knowledge and skill, and by holding center stage through verbal performance...". This seems to fit nicely into what we often see from our familure main-stream news outlets. I also find it interesting that, although the author is refuring to face to face interactions in this quote, it doesn't take much imagination to picture this as a one-way communication. This one-way, hierarchical method of communication is the same structure we find in all traditional medias; from newspapers to radio programs to cable news networks. All hierarchical, all one-way.

Now look at rapport talk. This is the form of speech women feel most accustomed to using.

Internet Democratization, Advancing Technologies, and a Grandma

Chapter 3 of Citizen Marketers, entitled “The Democratization of Everything”, covers a great deal of information regarding Web 2.0 being a “…multiple-way communication between Web-site owner and visitor, and visitors with other visitors.” This is in stark contrast to the “Web 1.0” model, in which the communication is passed one-way, from the content’s creator to the viewer, much like more traditional mediums (Newspapers, television, ext.). I found just about everything covered in this chapter to be, not just interesting, but exciting. However, it was what the authors, Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba, said regarding the younger generation that really sparked my interest. Quotes like, “Children are actively using personal music devices, digital cameras, and DVD players by the age of 7…” and, “Twice as many kids aged 4 to 14 owned personal music devices and digital cameras in 2005, while cell-phone ownership in the age group has shot up 50 percent since (2005).” made me take a moment to stop and think about how quickly our nation’s youth pickup these technologies and then surpass the generations in front of them in both know-how and creativity. It reminded me of a story a professor of mine once told to our class.

It was my first semester at St. Edward’s University and I was being taught Darwin’s theory of evolution by a Professor affectionately known as “Dr. Dave”. I can’t remember why, but one day he brought up his grandmother. He said that she was in her late 80’s and, bless her heart, simply could not comprehend that documents, pictures, ext. could be saved on the computer. She held the belief that once the computer was turned off, everything that was on it was lost for good. So, she felt it necessary to print everything out on paper. Dr. Dave told us that every year a different member of the family would take up the quest of getting grandma to understand the computer’s save function. And every year that family member would walk away defeated, their frustrated mumbling muffled by the sounds of grandma’s printer churning away in the other room. It’s been over four years since Dr. Dave shared that story with me, and yet I still remember it as if he had said it to me just moments ago. As for my recollection of the subject… Hmm, I know it had something to do with monkeys...

Anyway, I think this story stuck with me through all these years for two reasons. The first is that it’s adorable. The second is the fact that it forces me to ask myself a difficult question: “What kind of technology will I be unable to wrap my mind around as an old man? Could we really advance so quickly that I will not only fail to keep up with technology, but find myself unable to even comprehend it?” I’m not really sure. Sitting here in front of my computer as a 22 year old , it’s hard for me to even imagine myself as an elderly gentleman, becoming frustrated and perhaps even fearful of new emerging technologies. Could this really be my fate and if so, is there anything I can do to prevent it? After a bit more thought on the matter, I came to this conclusion: As long as I get to ride around on one of those Rascal Scooters, I don't really care.

Democrats once again take up the Net Neutrality cause

Last Thursday, Democrats once again introduced the Internet Freedom and Non-discrimination Act before Congress. The Internet Freedom and Non-discrimination Act, originally passed in 2006, is a bill that would change America’s antitrust law to keep corporations such as Comcast, Time-Warner, and AT&T from, “…blocking, impairing, or discrimination against ‘lawful’ Internet content, applications, and services or charging extra fees for ‘prioritization or enhanced quality of service.’” (Anne Broache, Cnet.com) In other words, companies that serve as network operators will not be able to use their control of the networks to tilt the virtual playing field in their favor. This regulation is known as Net Neutrality.

Personally I think this is fantastic. The internet today is the only mass medium where quality of content alone decides the fate of websites, blogs, and other web content. Being a broke college student, there is not much hope that I will be able to start a television program, newspaper, magazine, or radio station that could rival those found in the main stream media. Even if I could manage to accomplish this, it would certainly not happen over night. This, however, is not the case on the Internet. Thanks to the web’s level playing field, I am able to create, lets say a blog, and in no time at all, be in competition with the most established blogs on the web. My success or failure would be determined by how interesting/entertaining/useful visitors found my content, and not whether I am backed by a powerful conglomerate. On the web, money, power, and control all take a back seat to quality of content and creativity. I for one, hope it remains that way.