#5

Class Communication Technologies

After listening to my peers' presentations, I learned a lot about the evolution of technologies throughout history and the impact of those technologies on today's world. After multiple presentations, I also noticed patterns and themes among the introduction of each new technology.

Pop Culture & Historical Events

One pattern I drew was how emerging technology plays a huge role in pop culture and major historical events. The most interesting, I thought, was how the iconic guitar riff in the Rolling Stones' Satisfaction was recorded thanks to the cassette tape. The other more modern technology of SMS Messaging introduced the common use of abbreviations and slang. In the past decades, different generations have been identified by their slang. Oftentimes we can tell the age group a person is in just by the way they speak. We likely wouldn't have these generation-defining words or phrases if not for the invention of SMS Messaging.

New Technology is a Catalyst for Newer Technology

A second pattern I drew was how new technology is a catalyst for newer technology. For instance, the phonograph wasn't a completely original idea. It was actually innovated off of Thomas Edison's first model which used tinfoil instead of wax. Alexander Graham Bell took what Edison created and built off of it, later renaming it the gramophone. The same thing happened with many current Instagram features. Instagram wouldn't have short reels if it weren't for TikTok and it wouldn't have stories if it weren't for Snapchat. Other apps released new features and Instagram adopted them, helping it to turn into the social media app it is now. The interesting concept is that Instagram was created before TikTok and Snapchat, so its creation sparked a line of new features from the other two applications.

Globalization

Lastly, new technology plays a huge role in globalization. Our world gets more and more globalized every year. We seem to learn about globalization in every single class: economics, English literature, and music. It only makes sense that in our Media Law class, we can clearly see how globalization has influenced and has been influenced by communications technologies. As mentioned before, Instagram was one of the first of its kind. It started off as a way to share global travels with friends and family. This meant that people could share fun times with people all the way across the world. Another modern technology that has emerged in global markets is Netflix. Not only are multiple Netflix originals set in foreign countries, but Netflix also offers foreign work like Latin telenovelas, Korean dramas, or dubbed European movies. Netflix also looks different depending on the country you reside in. A certain movie may not be available in the USA, but it could be available in the Philippines. Netflix has now expanded to 190 countries, making it an incredibly globalized streaming service that allows people from different locations to bond.