Impact of the Digital Age on Society Today

Impact of the Digital sequence on Society TodayDiscuss the impact of the digital age on the social, economic and political spirit of society today.The Information Age (also kn proclaim as the Computer Age, Digital Age, or New Media Age) is a period in human history characterized by the shift from traditional industry that the industrial revolution brought through industrialization, to an parsimony based on study computerization. The onset of the Information Age is associated with the Digital Revolution, serious as the Industrial Revolution marked the onset of the Industrial Age.During the information age, the phenomenon is that the digital industry creates a knowledge-based society surrounded by a high-tech global economy that spans over its influence on how the manufacturing throughput and the service sector operate in an efficient and convenient steering. In a commercialized society, the information industry is able to whollyow individuals to explore their personalized need s, therefore simplifying the procedure of making decisions for transactions and signifi female genitaliatly displace costs for both the producers and buyers. This is accepted overwhelmingly by participants throughout the entire economic activities for efficacy purposes, and raw(a) economic incentives would then be indigenously encouraged, such as the knowledge economy.1The Information Age formed by capitalizing on the computer microminiaturization advances, with a transition spanning from the advent of the personal computer in the late 1970s, to the Internets reaching a critical bundle in the early 1990s, and the adoption of such technology by the public in the two decades after 1990. This evolution of technology in daily life, as well as of educational life style, the Information Age has allowed rapid global talks and networking to shape modern society.The impact of digital age on the social life of the society today is connected with ones position in the society, his social cl ass and also his social subscribeground, nowadays, there atomic number 18 so many changes in the social aspect of our lives. A very good example of this is festival, changes in tradition and also in the mood of dressing, all this became possible because of the impact of digital age we establish today. If we look more or less us today, its hard to find a person that has not added anything new to his traditional attires , what I mean here is, for instance, for the Hausas and also the Fulanis, there were not know for wearing jeans and tops, but now it has let a commons thing based on socialization. Before, many do not believe in going to educate especially the Fulanis, they only believe in training cattles while the women among them ar to stay at home, but now, everyone wants to be in school, illiteracy is darkness, people dont believe in staying at home doing nothing anymore, for at least even when they lack the opportunity or dont impart the means of going school or seekin g for conjecture opportunity, they will prep be engaging themselves in a small business just for them to earn something for a living. There argon so many changes due to the impact digital age on the social life of our societies today.The digital age as made the means of communication easier for the world because you put forward send a message to someone in new york from Nigeria.The digital age as affected the politics of the am economy because you are able to find out the party that as the higher polls making it possibel for the other compeiton to know where they stand at the point of the election.It as maintenanceed the politician to be able to have a wider amount of suppoter or vote in the campaign because they can easily broadcast their speechs on the web making people like them more .Over the last 10 years, weve seen social media galvanize thousands over politics, create as many industries as it has destroyed, and offer an abundance of visual and audio entertainment.But has a ll this incredible change actually changed us, or just the world we live in?Below are some areas in which social media has had lasting, and arguably permanent effects on the ways in which we live. The question is, are these changes all for the better?Child LiteracyIt stands to creator that children who read and write more are better at reading and writing. And writing blog posts, status updates, text messages, instant messages, and the like all strike children to read and write. Last month, The National Literacy Trust released the results of a survey of over 3000 children. Theyobserved a correlation between childrens engagement with social media and their literacy. Simply put, social media has helped children become more literate. Indeed, Eurostat recently published a report drawing a correlation between education and online activity, which found that online activity increased with the level of form-only(prenominal) activity (socio-economic factors are, of course, potentially at play here as well).Ambient IntimacyLisa Reichelt, a user experience consultant in Londoncoined the very lovely term ambient intimacy. It describes the way in which social media allows you to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldnt ordinarily have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible.Consider the many communications technologies through history the telephone, Morse code, semaphore, carrier pigeons, smoke signals they are all fairly inconvenient and labor intensive. Lisa has hit on the idea that communication has become so convenient that its actually become ambient around us. It surrounds us wherever we want it, not necessarily whenit wants us. We dip into it whenever we like.Knowledge Was PowerFrom his Meditationes Sacrae, published in 1597,Francis Bacon was paraphrased as saying knowledge is power. Fundamentally, the more you bring in about life, the more chance you have at success. But these days, Wikiped ia and Google have democratized information to the point where anyone is able toacquirethe knowledge they may want.As a courting in point, I had never even heard of Meditationes Sacrae until I looked up the term knowledge is power on Wikipedia.In Bacons time, the only people that had access to books and the literacy to open up the wisdom within were the wealthy with the time and inclination to learn.Of course, books werent the only source of knowledge. Consider blacksmiths, dressmakers, cobblers or sailors who passed their skills and techniques from mother to daughter, from father to son. Back then, the friction that held people back from learning was low literacy, a lack of access to books and very little time. Now, that friction is almost non-existent. That is because of both the ability of computers to replicate information for distribution, and the the way that Google, Wikipedia and blogs have empowered people to share what they know. Now,the only real friction that exists is our own desire for knowledge. Its there for you if you want it.The Reinvention of PoliticsA recent report by PEW found signs that social networks may be encouraging younger people to get touch in politics. You only need look at Twitters recent impact on the Iran elections, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and even the election of Barack Obama to see that more and more people are getting involved in politics and are feeling they can make a difference.One of the most popular blogs on the web, The Huffington Post, is mainly political. Politics has a desist pace, and that lends itself well to social media. UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown said in June last year that because of the Internet, foreign policy can no longer be the country of just a few elites. Twitter even postponed an upgrade because of the important role it was playing in the Iran elections.These are all signs of both social medias suppuration influence in politics, and the growing interest in politics from users of s ocial media.The down side for poltic in the digital age is that most information can be gotten from th internet aboout any party making it a disadvantage in the campaign if he or she as a knotty record either a fake degree or something a voter would not like about whom he wanted to vote for .Tecchnology has changed the way we live, work, shop and play. We can bank, shop and donate securely from anywhere we can access the Internet. We can to communicate across oceans and continents in seconds. We can work from anywhere, increase efficiency and productivity. Yet, Nigeria education has yet to embrace the power of technology to customize education and give students the ability to gain knowledge anywhere, anytime.Digital learning can change that. Digital learning is any type of learning that gives students some element of control over time, place, path and/or pace. It allows students to learn in their own way, on their own timetable, wherever they are, whenever they can.Students are usi ng digital learning everywhere except school. They are gaming, texting and posting on the Internet. Imagine if we channel those digital skills into learning? Student achievement would skyrocket.But still the digital age as a negative effect on the education system,as part of the face class, students wrote and edited their stories on screen and I was amazed how motivated they were and how much time and effort they put into their work.Since the early to mid 90s I have use computers and the internet on a daily basis and as I sit typing this chapter into my fifth-generation Macintosh (while checking emails, paying some bills, downloading research papers and Skyping friends) I realise the value of the new technologies and how useful they are.We live in a global village with instant communication via television, computers, the internet, mobile phones and social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype. While parents are often described as out-of-date and old-fashioned when i t comes to new technology, children are celebrated as digital natives.Impact on jobs and income distributionThe Information Age has impacted the workforce in several ways. First, it has created a situation in which workers who perform tasks which are easily automated are being forced to find work which involves tasks that are not easily automated. Second, workers are being forced to make out in a global job market. Lastly, workers are being replaced by computers that can do the job more effectively and faster. This poses problems for workers in industrial societies, which are still to be solved. However, solutions that involve lowering the working time usually find high resistance.Jobs traditionally associated with the middle class (assembly line workers, data processors, foremen and supervisors) are beginning to disappear, either through outsourcing or automation. Individuals who lose their jobs must either move up, joining a group of mind workers (engineers, doctors, attorneys, t eachers, scientists, professors, executives, journalists, consultants), or settle for low-skill, low-wage service jobs.The mind workers are able to compete successfully in the world market and command high payoff. Conversely, production workers and service workers in industrialized nations are unable to compete with workers in growing countries and either lose their jobs through outsourcing or are forced to accept wage cuts.6 In addition, the internet makes it possible for workers in developing countries to provide personal services and compete directly with their counterparts in other nations.This has had several major consequences, including increased opportunity in developing countries and the globalization of the workforce.Workers in developing countries have a competitive advantage which translates into increased opportunities and higher wages.7 The full impact on the workforce in developing countries is complex and has downsides. (see discussion in constituent on globaliza tion).In the past, the economic fate of workers was tied to the fate of national economies. For example, workers in the United States were once well paid in comparison to the workers in other countries. With the advent of the Information Age and improvements in communication, this is no longer the case. Because workers are forced to compete in a global job market, wages are less dependent on the success or failure of individual economies.6In conclusion, digital age had so much impact on the social, economic and political life of the societies today because it has brought so much changes in our daily aspects of life and also helps us to improve and reshape our environment with the aid of practical, experimental and scientific knowledge or technology.Impact on social lifeThe digital age as made communication easier and faster for indivdual and incorruptible of all countries but this the social network in the world as made it harder for indivdual to have face to face conversationsefer encesAmichai-Hamburger, Y., Barak, A. (2009). Internet and well-being. In Y.Amichai-Hamburger (Ed.), Technology and psychological well-being.Cambridge Cambridge University Press.Anderson, C. A. (2002). Violent video games and aggressive thought, feelingsand behaviors. In S. Calvert, A. Jordan, R. Cocking (Eds.),Children in thedigital age(pp. 101120). Westport, CT. Praeger.Anderson, C.A., Bushman, B.J. (2002). The effects of media violence onsociety.Science,295, 2377-2378.Antoci, A., Sabatini, F., Sodini, M. (2009).Will growth and technology destroysocial interaction?The inverted U-shape hypothesis. Munich Personal RePEcArchivehttp//mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/18229Accessed 15thJanuary 2010.Bandura, A. (1977).Social learning theory.Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Prentice-Hall.Barylick, C. (n.d.). Technology and social isolation. Retrieved fromhttp//irchelp.org/irchelp/misc/tech.htmlAccessed 12th January 2010.Bauerlein, M. (2008).The dumbest generation How the digital age stupefiesyoung Amer icans and jeopardizes our future. New York, NY Penguin.BBC (2009)Online networking harms health.London BBC News Website.http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7898510.stmAccessed 12th January 2010.