In “Wasting Time on the Internet”, the first chapter describes the exploration of keeping one busy and grazes upon the idea of literally wasting time. In this chapter The Social Network, that the author subjects the people to boredom and would have to find their own way to keep themselves busy, which corresponds to the whole idea that people are more connected to their devices than once thought. In my own experience in wasting time without my precious technology, I would usually do a lot of miscellaneous things and would be more social than I usually am. Frankly, there is meaning to taking away our technology because it provides the person with a sense of freedom, as they put their entire life onto one device or maybe two. In that experience, however, there was a sense of accomplishment mostly without technology and that impact is much more powerful that we wouldn’t have to rely on these devices to do so. Goldsmith conducted actual research when trying to generate something random when taking people’s devices away. The outcome though, was to make sure that nobody knew what they were doing or how to occupy themselves, and that pretty much reflects on my experience when away from technology, unaware and lost with no sense of direction.
Writing for Emergent Media: Introduction
In Kenneth Goldsmith’s “Wasting Time on the Internet” presents the reader with a bridge between living in society and behind the screen with technology and thereafter. Based on personal experience, I thought this textbook would just be another piece of writing where one author goes on a rant about what media today means as well as how we think as artists is wrong. However, upon looking back at the experiences the author describes, I am able to agree with some of the experiences presented. For instance, with Facebook and how we would always be tuned in to their devices, especially our phones to be precise. When we use our phones, we are immersed into a different plan of living, so when we waste time, we are also creating a form of culture or subculture that poses a sort of question based on values reflected today. When looking back on that theory, it’s safe to branch off on the idea that the way we interact with technology will infinitely change the way we interact with one another. Back to the idea of Facebook and Goldsmith’s experience in social media can be related to my own and how both form a sort of indifferent experience. Based on my own experiences, I use Twitter regularly and find myself trapped under some sort of inner society where you feel like everyone is wasting time, but in actuality everyone has a life even outside of posting multiple times a day.
