Youth and Digital Communication Technologies - Essay Example

Youth and the digital communication technologies Introduction       Digital communication technology system is a data technology that employs discontinuous or discrete values to represent the information. It is a technology which is in contrast to the analog technology where the information is represented in a continuous range. Digital technology is the latest kind of technology that has emerged out of the analogy technology. It is usually used in electronics most especially where the real world information is converted to a digital form. The advancement in technology is pushing the society into the digital era; the digital technology is replacing the analogy technology at a faster rate (Lincoln electric, pg 1). This is because digital technology enhances faster, dependable, economical equipment performance. The analogy technology can only transmit information over limited distance as the signals die out with the elongation of the distance. Digital communication technology promotes faster transfer of signals as it preserves the integrity of the data in a simplified wiring system. This technology also allows a scalable framework to give room for future improvements without replacing the whole module. The emergency of this kind of technology has caused a tremendous change in the entire society, in this essay; we are going to see how digital communication technology has influenced social change, individualization and social difference among the youth. History of digital technology       Before we look at the above mentioned themes, let us first of all discuss briefly the history of the digital communication technology. The development of digital technology has a long history and it has undergone about four distinct stages which are according to chronological order (Hamelink, 1997, pg 1). The first phase which was the longest was between 35000 BC to 1838 where the information was handled through physical and mechanical power. In this phase, the media which were used in information transmission were fast running courier, smoke signals, talking drums and courier pigeons. The second phase followed by the invention of the electricity where the development of telephone, telegraph, radio and television were enabled by the electro-mechanical power.       The third phase came in after a short period of time where the invention of the transistors, electronic computers, integrated circuits and semiconductors. The technology of the computer developed from the first electro-mechanical calculator in 1939 into the big computer which was invented during the period of the Second World War. 1950s saw the invention of the transistors which enabled the development of the small size computers which operated with high speed at reduced energy consumption (Hamelink, 1997, pg 2). The first microprocessor was developed in 1971 later on; the first computer developed out of microprocessor was manufactured.       The fourth phase saw the invention of the digital communication technology when the fiber optics were developed and enabled the development of the digital communication networks in 1980s. This technology has replaced the analog signals for numerous telecommunication forms especially in cable systems and the cellular telephone (Schafer, 2011, n. p). In this phase, the analog-to-digital converters were manufactured which aided the changing of analog data into the digital signals. The digital signal transmissions were less distorted and could be duplicated easily. This has made the work which took a lot of time to be completed initially now can be done within the shortest time possible with highest quality results. Therefore, this was how the digital communication technology evolved, its invention and adoption in the science field has really influenced how things are done in the society as a whole. Social change       The sophisticated technological advancement has transformed the education, work and social setting of the society in that the young generation is the one that is being affected by this technology either in a positive or negative way. In fact the current era is called the information era where any person who needs a particular kind of information, he/she can access to that information using various kinds of media which are readily available. We have the websites cameras, televisions, mobile phones and so many other equipments which use the digital technology to transmit the information to whoever needs it.       We find that the peoples’ social behaviors have been altered by this because one would prefer to check whatever he/she want just from the internet unlike before the digital age where one would only find the required information from other people in form of interviewing them. On the other hand, this has reduced the interaction or socialization of people since one would not bother to disturb other people around him that he is looking for a particular kind of information when the information itself can be found from many sources availed to him. Therefore, the social aspect of people has been changed or altered by the technological advancement majorly through the digital communication technology       The availability of various kinds of sources of information has generally favored the youth than the older generation. This is because most f these equipments are a bit technical in their operations, therefore the older generation find it hard to learn the new and complicated techniques in manipulating them. This situation in fact is causing a wider gap between the younger and older generation. The elderly are being left in dilemma since the way they are used to communicate is changing. This compels them to try as much as possible to adapt the general basics so that they can be in a position to move with the youth.       Although generally, the older generation is always reluctant in welcoming the new technology because of the complications they encounter when working with the modern equipments which seem to be a bit complex in working with them. The youth on their side, are just comfortable because in their young age, they are always aggressive and would want to explore any new development that comes. This issue of adapting or not adapting to the new technologies is making many elderly members especially those ones who are illiterate or those ones who did not go far in their academics to find themselves lacking behind the rest of the society members. Therefore, their social participation tend to be affected in one way or another which sometimes brings change in the way they socialize with others.       The impact of digital communication technology has caused a hot debate among the scholars where two hypotheses have been put forward. Some of the people argue that digital technology has promoted the issue of socialization and interaction among the youth because youth tend to interact through the internet with new people even who are very far and whom they have not met (Long, 2010,pg 4). They assert that the new technology has created a hyper connectivity which has widened the scope of interaction and has brought a revolution in the social interaction among the youth. The other group presents another hypothesis which suggest that the invention of digital technology has encouraged isolation and disconnected individuals from one another. Therefore, it has reduced the social interaction among the youth because the young generations tend to spend a lot of time on the internet doing research to find the information they need instead of interacting and inquiring from other people.       The people who are against the new technology argues that though people are able to send and  receive messages through the media such as emails, text messages, social net working sites within the shortest time possible, this media cannot satisfy as through intimate face to face interaction (Long, 2010,pg 5) They reason that since the youth have over depended on the digital communication technology in finding any information they require, their ability to develop and maintain the social skills and relationship have been affected and weakened to some extent. . The major argument for those who are for digital technology is that, the technology has facilitated a faster communication which is enabling people to reach one another quickly and in a multiple way.         From these two arguments, we find that the social life of many youth have really been affected by the introduction of the new technology. The digital technology has altered the way people used to interact with one another. To make it worse, the alteration is still going on since more and more inventions of other new technologies are being realized every day. Therefore the society’s social interaction is becoming more complex. The most important thing people should keep in mind is that face to face communication is not independent from digital communication technology since the two forms of communication are interrelated (Long, 2010,pg 5). What we ought to understand is that both forms have their own advantages and disadvantages but we have to appreciate each one of it because they are important in upholding our social interaction in the entire society. Individualization       We have seen how the digital technology has facilitated the social change of the society, likewise, the emergence of the digital communication technology has impacted both positively and negatively the behaviors of certain individuals in the society. Individualization is where by an individual behavior is either affected positively or negatively when he/she gets to be used to these new technologies. The debate about the effects of technology on the individual’s life is an old topic which has been discussed by scholars for a long period of time. In fact Plato warned against the effects of over relying on the mass media of the day because the users tend will tend to have difficulties in differentiating the facts from the fictions (Brynin &Kraut, pg 2). This might lead them to emulating the worst effects other than adapting the positive effects. Researchers have identified about four ways in which an individual is affected by the digital communication technologies.       First, the researchers have found that digital technology is taken by individuals as a tool. This means that information technologies are seen as tools which can be used by people to attain static goals and to accomplish old activities in a slightly different ways (Brynin &Kraut, pg 7). Therefore in performing these tasks in a new way could change their efficiency in performing these particular tasks. Using digital technologies such as internet to get product information, research health issues, to make plans or banking online are good examples of in which the new technology seems to alter the efficiency of an individual. However, some of the researches do not agree that individual efficiency is increasing when one relies on the digital technologies that are always coming up. Some of the function of digital technologies such as using e-mail to exchange greetings, listening to music online plays the same role as that when listening it over the radio; this is just but a small shift in the mechanism. Therefore the new technologies are just displacing one activity with a functionally equivalent alternative (Brynin &Kraut, pg 7). Therefore, researchers are trying to reveal to us that digital technologies are affecting the users in this case mostly the youth their individual efficiency. The youth are using this new technology to find information so that they can apply the information they have found in their studies. This means that the individual performances in academic work are improving since the invention of the digital technologies because they are accessing the required information. Secondly, the commentators are also arguing that the new technology is having a social impact to an individual since it is encouraging many individual especially the youth to shift their goals and objectives in their life (Brynin &Kraut, pg 8). They have asserted that digital technology has encouraged individuals to make decisions to make the qualitative changes in their daily lives. We have been told that people are using the digital technology to implement and accomplish not only new goals in their lives, but also to accomplish the old goals. Moreover, new technology is allowing people most often the youth to lay down the laws that guide them to get a qualitative change to their lives. They even go further building a strong intimate relationship with their close friends. The relationships of individuals are built by instant messages which allow friends to feel to be part of their peer group; psychologically this makes them to feel recognized and accepted, therefore making them to have a sense of identity. Thirdly, the researchers’ informs us that the digital technologies are making individuals to achieve their personal welfare outcomes (Brynin &Kraut, pg 9). They postulates that new technologies are impacting the life styles of individuals in that personal welfare in many aspects including the physical, mental health, privacy and even educational achievements are addressed. Therefore these new technologies are adding some value to life since they make life in general to be a fascination. The social relationship of an individual is elevated because an individual develops both physical and psychological health. Individuals with strong social relationships tend to be healthier and happier. The scholars argue that new technologies allows diverse social networks, therefore they change the quality of relationships among the people who communicate using them. This significantly affects the well being of an individual. Therefore, the young generation is greatly influenced by the technology where their social interaction is boasted by these new technologies. The last way in which the researchers have tried to explain the effects of the digital technology to an individual is the way the relationship of an individual is affected in relation to the whole society in which he/ she is leaving in. It is suggested that when an individual’s efficiency increases due to adoption of the new technology, it means himself will have to benefit and the society or the firm in which this individual is working with will also realize the benefits. Therefore, it does not mean that when an individual’s efficiency improves he will have to enjoy the benefits alone, but the people around will also benefit. This means that digital technology invention has promoted the output of in many firms especially those firms which apply this technology in their operations. An individual’s effort is recognized and appreciated since through technology one can express his ability from the output of his work. Social differences In addition to the alteration of the community social behaviors and individualization, digital technology has also led to the social differences among the members of the society especially between generations. The use of digital technology although is being encouraged by many scholars, the society as a whole is experiencing what we call, the digital divide. This is the disparity that exists among the members of the whole society due to inaccessibility or lack of exposure of particular people from various regions of the world or the country. It is obvious that in every country, some people are more exposed to this new technology than others. People who are well off and those ones who stay in urban areas are often more informed than those ones in remote villages. Therefore, you will find that there is a disparity that exists among these people. Researchers have shown that there are about three levels of technological disparities that exists in the society (World youth report, 2003, pg 316).  First of all, we have the notion of global digital divide. This is the disparities in digital communication that exists between people who live in different parts of the world. People from a certain continent are well placed arte are exposed to the new technology that their counter parts in other continents. It is obvious that people from developed countries like US and UK are more introduced to the new technologies that other people from underdeveloped countries like those ones of African and Asian continent. This issue of global technology disparities is causing social differences among the people, from different continents. In fact poor countries have not even adopted well this issue of digital communication technology. They are still relying very much on the old form of technology that is through analog communication. This fact is making their citizens to lack behind other people from different parts of the world. The second disparity that exists due to the technology relates to the unequal opportunities for digital communication technologies use within countries. This is where the use of digital technologies just in one country is not uniform to every part of that country or to every body of that country. This kind of disparity comes as a result of individual’s socio-economic position, the level of education and the place of residence (World youth report, 2003, p g 316). When an individual has a lower income and education levels, he is more likely to be excluded from the information flows and networks. Therefore this discrimination creates social differences among the individuals who belong to the same nation but having different economic and educational well being.  The young generation is the one that is affected at the great deal by this disparities because at their tender age, it is obvious that they cannot afford to buy the digital equipments unless if they are supported by their parents. When the parents are poor, then it means the youth are left helpless hence lacking behind their fellow counter parts from well off families. Therefore, this kind of disparity is the major cause of social imbalances among the youth who come from the same region or same country. The third disparity that exists is that one caused by the participation in democracy and social work participation. Often, the opportunities for children and the youth in general to express their ideas and opinions concerning different issues in the entire society have been very limited. The only ways they could influence the world was through peer relation interaction. The digital revolution that is being experienced nowadays has opened the ways to the increased communication and involvement (World youth report, 2003,p g 316). Although some researchers have recommended that in this age where the youth are depending on the digital technology, some constructive conflicts between the youth and their parents tends to deteriorate. For example the mobile phone based interaction between the adolescents and the parents reduces the chances of these peoples’ interaction.       But there are some conflicts which are known to be common when the youth get to interact or stay close to their parents. These conflicts are said to be health or productive since parents are always in a position to correct a young individual just right away when he/she tends to commit certain common mistakes (World youth report, 2003, p g 316). Therefore, in this digital era, some researchers have recommended that this new technology has reduced the social interaction between the parents and their children since the parents do not have enough time to sit with their children. This has had a negative impact because the constructive conflicts which shape the behaviors of the young individuals are absent. This means that the a young individual can develop a funny character which is contrary to the society morals just because he/she is away from the parents who could have corrected him before it came to be worse. Therefore, this digital era promote vicious habits which ruin the good morals among the youth simply just because they lack parental guidance due not being in close conduct.       The digital technology disparities we have discussed above are linked to the practical problems that are particularly relevant to the developing nations (World youth report, 2003,p g 317). The first primary cause of these disparities is the inadequate funds and few information communication resources. Most poor countries have not installed structures which supports the ICT development. In fact many poor countries do not have a good electricity supply in most of their rural areas. Electrifications is only established in urban regions, there those people who stays in towns are the only ones who are privileged in accessing the modern ICT resources. This fact has made it impossible for individuals acquaint themselves with the new technology that is available to other people in developed nation.       The second cause of the disparities that exists is that the latest information technology available mare too expensive especially to the developing nations. Take for example the installation of fiber optics which aids in faster communication is very expensive. Poor countries take a long time and tend to spend a big percentage of their national budgets to install this structure. Another example which affects the individual directly is that the mobile phones which have the internet option are very expensive therefore they are not affordable by many young fellows. These two factors affect the individual access to the new technological development hence promoting social differences among the young generations around the globe.       The third reason that is causing the disparity is that most of the information transmitted through the ICT media is communicated through English language. All over the world, it is estimated that there are about 3000 to 4000 languages, but funny enough about 80% of the information provided on the websites is in English (World youth report, 2003,p g 317). This acts as a barrier to the non English speaking communities since they will need somebody to interpret for them to understand. Therefore, individual social difference is widened by this factor; people who are English speakers are more advantaged than the non English speakers. This language barrier can be overcome by with the help of skilled individuals who have learned several languages so that they can be interpreters to other people who are not well versed with the language used. Conclusion Digital communication technologies are playing a big role in the development of the entire society. This development is much realized in three facets. First the new technology is being applied in the education systems where the learners are now able to learn using this technology. Learners are utilizing the availability of this technology in doing research in various educational disciplines. Furthermore, the people are now able to enroll for distance education in various countries which are very far from where they stay knowing very well that they will have to use the digital communication technology to facilitate their learning. The new technology as we have discussed in the whole essay is promoting the social interaction among the members of the society. People are now able to communicate with others even who are far away from where they stay within the shortest time possible. The new technology has also made the work easier especially in industries, institutions and many other work places. The technology is used to store large volumes of data without being lost; therefore it has promoted efficiency in the production. Generally, all these changes which have been brought about by the digital technology have affected the young generation at a great deal than the old generation. The researchers have recommended that more and more new technologies are going to be invented and the youth are the ones who are going to be influenced by these new technologies. The old generation will always be reluctant to adapt to the new technologies. The new technology has resulted to social change, altered the behaviors of individuals in the society and it has also caused social differences among the members of the society especially among generations.         Reference List Aho, K. (2005). “Digital communication for all students.” White paper. Macromedia, Sanfrancisco. Becta. (2009). “The impact of digital technology.” Millburn hill Road, Science park. Brynin, M & Kraut, R. “Social studies of domestic information communication technologies.” Thesis, Viewed on 24th May 2011, http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~kraut/RKraut.site.files/articles/Byrnin04- SocialStudiesOfICT.pdf Hamelink, C. (1997). “New information and communication technologies, social development and  cultural change.” Viewed on 24th May 2011,  http://www.google.co.ke/search?q=new%20information%20and%20communication%20t technologies Johnson, R. 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