For my paper I’d like to explore the impact of new media on our society (sociological perspective). How is the new media changing people and our relationships? I’d like to look into: social networking; the phenomenon of dependence on constant web access (e.g. GPS); information overload (e.g. before we visit to a doctor we already have a diagnosis in mid because we searched the web).
Does the web foster human relationships by giving access to more and more people.......or does it impede human contact ( due to anonymity, distance, etc)? I want to figure out if dating sites were 'bound to happen'. Our generation lives on a fast track and it is hard to find a mate (especially when one is out of school). Online dating services are there to help to find people in similar situation (singles looking for a mate) and to "prescreen" candidates (in order to limit disappointment and waste of time). But is a step forward or backward? (Think of prearranged marriages and professional matchmakers)
I also want to investigate ‘information overload’. It is really amazing how simple research is easy nowadays...The problem arises when we consider ourselves experts on a topic after one hour web surf. It's probably really annoying to any specialist that we go to see afterwards (my favorite argument "but I found on the internet that.........."). Is it bad that we educate ourselves or seek more then one opinion? Probably not, but I want to look deeper into that phenomenon...
I believe this topic is very interesting and fun to work on.
