Beware of the dark side-media magazine

1. Why is consumerism a concept central to this unit?

Consumerism is central because New Media Technologies can't survive without selling, the consumer is the most important thing to media institutions. Most New Media Technologies expire within 18 months according to the article, this shows the high demand for the technology. The issue of consumerism is interesting to examine because it raises discussion about whether it is a good or a bad thing.



2. How do we often "unwittingly give up our privacy"?

Everything that we look at on the internet is recorded and everything we search for tells somebody else a little more about us. It is easy to give up our privacy because of websites like myspace and facebook which allow people to tell other people all about themselves but they are also telling the computer. After it's posted anyone can access the infomation.



3. How have NMT's criminalised audiences?

NMT's can criminalise people through the use of the internet where anything can be done, on the internet people are given the ability to download anything they can find which is illegal but people still do it because it's so easy and impossible to get caught. The audience for this media is big, which means that it is almost impossible to track down criminals and even if you do catch them you can't get rid of them for good.

4. What health and enviromental issues do NMT's pose?

There have been a number of health concerns metioned by the public, the most common is the rumor that mobile phone masts can cause deaths in birds and that they can make people very sick if they are in close contact to them. The hazards of NMT's are gennerally thought to be acceptable but as the demand for NMT's grows so does the risk of health issues. We still do not know the long term effects of NMT's.