Digital life and digital death, which leads to competition for readers in the media, as occurs postpreda, fakes and hype, and what is lost due to millions of “reporters themselves,” – explains the journalist, media expert, Professor at the HSE Anna kachkaeva.
Anna Kachkaeva. Photo: Sergey Shedrin
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More and more people fused with a gadget
The main change over the past 5-7 years is the gadget that the person around all the time.
Humanity is on 24 hours a day, charging it is connected to the network indefinitely, and if any of the young people, their parents and partly of the generation of their grandparents to ask what they are doing, waking up, then obviously, the answer from most will be the same: they include a cell phone.
Studies show that on average more than 50 times a day check the updates. People increasingly fused with the gadget, it becomes a kind of appendage communication flows, especially if you are not able to resist.
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Modern people – almost media. People are in the media tool – always “on” connection; in digital language and images that it creates (this we see in the case of instagram), display empathy via the “other” digital itself, and the digital friend-“friend” through likes and Chery, self-expression and digital interactivity.
That is why everything that has happened recently with social media – its all-penetrability, stratification, diversity, hybrid platforms where media live is, of course, with the incredible power of the Internet, social networks and messengers.
By the way, on Facebook/wotsap/instagram today inhabited by several billion people is comparable to the population of the largest countries in the world! Precipitous overproduction of information causes fatigue and inevitably devalues it, eroding the authority of the professional media.
Tough competition for us – round the clock
Incredibly broad set of media of all branches, levels of sensationalism and quality fighting for our attention 24 hours a day.
In addition, over the last 3-4 years have there been projects similar to the media. But this is not media in the traditional sense. It and digital projects of banks and corporations, and “digital extensions” of museums, territories, social and cultural institutions. And digital educational, scientific, educational and charitable projects (from “PostNuke” and “Arzamas” the historic of online museums) with their historical series, games, cards. Memorial projects “digital memory” (digitization and visualization of archives – personal, family, city; history of repression, prisoners who have died in wars, etc.). Projects with augmented and virtual reality – digital is the reality of the current cultural and media industry.
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The audience is segmented more and more, and this variety is a narrow segment in the media, unfortunately, does not give a great variety in mass, where a set of topics and approaches is quite the same. Endlessly entertaining TV on this mediafon accelerates even more the situation of “overproduction of emotion”: on the one hand, the positive, the other negative, with a third – aggressive, otherwise it’s hard to switch the individual information stream, in which the lives of every person.
Therefore, media such fierce competition for us. This competition is hard, because it is not only our spare time for the hours and minutes when we are “in” and “with” media, but also for our emotional involvement. Whether we like it or not, this pursuit of “souls” and “minds” expressed in the race for the title, CTR, sensation, pictures – humanity is basically talking pictures – more and more share of quality and tabloid media.
Besides a line of tabloid media continued incredible amounts of everything that we call public and all the garbage information that faking media and moving the media. Of course, quality publications are very hard to deal with all this.
Charity is a fashion and part of reputation
The theme of charity and the theme of aid in recent years has become very popular and even – dare I say it – fashionable.
Journalists and quality media is still a need to explain, to review and approve their case as the standard and balance. And today, social journalism and social sphere become very important part of the work and the feeling people media as a public good.
Due to the fact that in the new environment involvement in the lives of others has become stronger, and match practice is one of the new models of media consumption, people can be emotionally and personally interact with you and your content. And right here it is possible to encourage to show compassion, willingness to help, and actively work to create social products, movies, websites, programs that can change a difficult subject, to remove stigma, to help solve the difficult problems that does not solve the state.
Anna Kachkaeva. Photo: Sergey Shedrin
There were social projects that support the work of the funds and promote the idea of using something that used to be wrong to make the media because “every roof will not block, and every entrance will not collect the money.”
In addition, people from the third sector have themselves become media brands: Nutu Federmesser, Chulpan Khamatova, Katya Chistyakova in social networks know no less than popular journalists.
And the media now understand that the theme of charity is also a part of reputation.
New ritual and a digital death
Digital life becomes part of us, and it appears a new ritual and a new relationship with death.
Scientists say that in the network space in the coming years we are “dead” (dead accounts) will be the same as the living. People die, their profiles remain. It is no coincidence that in the last election campaign slipped information that the “new Chichikovs” supposedly already trying to offer “digital dead souls” to politicians. Hi Gogol.
We can talk about the digital birth, digital life and digital death. Appeared science “macrosociology”, which studies the dead and the digital afterlife with its ability to “pass”, “wave”, “willing”, to remind myself of the native in the anniversary or make a memorial in your account. Of course, you shudder when a few years ago, a deceased friend suddenly “reminds” me to your birthday you have in the messenger, but this is part of our new relationship with the public digital death. Or maybe, “digital immortality”?
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Let’s see what aggression appears in the new ritual and what we call the “digital death”. This spring, many networks were very impressed with the story of the suicide of a young man who left a suicide note after the murder of his girlfriend on his page (and its a few hours laykali when young people were already dead).
The girl was a student, of course, that we could not talk with other students about what was happening in networks. And there was something wild! It was absolutely Neanderthal behaviour seems to be people who are in relation to the deceased in reality itself, so after all do not store. We understand that some of the dead do not like known to history, when in the grave the spit, still, in the mass, to the real of death is a funeral mournful reverence.
In the digital environment this attitude toward death is manifested in different ways. On the one hand, some people explain to others, how to publicly mourn what avatar to hang what words are respectful and what are not. Look at what kind of coverage today of the tragedy of the crash, for example. Has already become a General rule that the media take photos of the passengers from social networks. In the case of such a tragedy, as a rule, quite gently and with reverence. Here again the tragedy ochelovechivaetsja.
That is, in these cases, the media do not work with the “digital dead” on social networks so scared, and sometimes disgusting, like, say, some of them worked in the situation mentioned homicide and suicide, becoming like a trashy (or not say) to the public and telegram channels. I will not tell what was in some of those channels which dumped photos of the dead – there just had to squint.
But even on Facebook already of the dead girl her photos commented in an absolutely obscene expressions (as a rule, the main thing in the review – “my fault”). In contrast to the scandals of sexual harassment, which, fortunately, are all alive, here the situation is another. Because people cannot see each other’s eyes, they allow themselves what is unlikely in reality.
This virtuality allows you to feel secure with her digital avatar and not to stand on ceremony with others – and these reactions, as with all new digital practices “memorialization”, pose a number of ethical issues, which is difficult to fit into the concept of the norm. But here we at least understand that gradually generated ritual and just creates a new “digital ethic”, does not always coincide with the ethics of non-numeric.
But look at what he did, for example, in the case of the dead boy and girl channel REN-TV, without disgust is impossible, because the Federal channel, which treats relatives, friends, records of conversations, throws firewood and so monstrous in a hostile environment… the Degree of aggressiveness and the ability to sell this aggressiveness as entertainment not appeared yesterday, and not in connection with digital media, but the network environment greatly stimulates this digital aggression.
Postpreda: emotions and beliefs are more important than facts
The more the media give yellow and aggressive materials and less to discuss with the audience the meaning, the more she wants to further increase the degree.
The theme of supply and demand is eternal. Of course, if we’re talking about mass media, they largely request form the audience and the status quo is determined. Usually in this case we say: “Well, who watches your channel “Culture” or reads the newspaper “Vedomosti”?” Worldwide all conventional channels “Culture” is not more than 3-4% of the audience.
But this is deceit. There is an opinion that journalists and media can no longer be standard-neutral: “What balance do you expect from us when polarized opinions in the society?” And, therefore, journalism must be more and more often the author’s, because in all other respects, the information space is poured a lot of what we call an opinion, judgement or point of view, often very aggressive.
Here we return to what our colleague is a well – known media expert Andrey Miroshnichenko calls the “liberated authorship”: millions of people are now themselves producers, writers, editors, interpreters, moderators, photographers – they are less in need of what media are, in terms of quality, and guess a lot to find, to conjecture, to interpret. Often not realizing that in this avalanche of communication noise are alienated from values and meanings.
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Trigger cognitive distortions is generally the person in some of the hard to convince, if he was sure of it. When around aggressive environment and even politically comfortable, non-competitive, and the majority has certain views, that person is often uncomfortable to affected community, it is very difficult to accept another point of view. In this sense, we always comfort those sources that coincide with our point of view. This property of psychology and the human psyche.
And of course, due to the fact that we afflict such volumes of information at incredible speeds, people get tired to resist the flow. Occurs what is called now “postprandial” when the facts are less important than appealing to emotions and personal beliefs. So in everyday life – including the political – mass there are “fakes” and “HYIPs”.
Most people are not able to critically evaluate information
In the tape of social networks is mixed and the war, the seals, so there you can easily implement to create fake news.
Everywhere we have quite a good network access and bandwidth. The question is how people access the network using that this variety of choose. To find an alternative source of information, it is necessary, first, to realize it, and, secondly, to want. The head should be thought: why do I need this? And need to doubt the fact of what is happening in the network with all these volumes, velocities, and simulation just like the media.
Anna Kachkaeva. Photo: Sergey Shedrin
But who would just scroll the digital canvas to the bottom and to read carefully what this project is about, who are the authors, do you have license? Most people do not even think about such details. Suffer the older generation, hitting the “digital divide” and not being able to critically evaluate the shaft of the publications of the public, disguised as media trading platforms, Scam pages with supplements, devices, Aquafilter, non-existent goods.
How do we know these stories, when grandparents believe some kind of certificate, because on the page the picture of the program of Malakhov or “Live healthy!”, and in the video it seems to be a doctor in a white coat and like even the Professor. And to explain that believe it not, quite pointless. For a traditional user visual, aspect of all this is very similar to what is said and shown on TV. But we understand that the certificate with the seal can be molded, giving it the look of a document.
We digitized birth – what to do with it
In the digital world it is impossible to do without the ability to doubt, the critical inner autonomy, a developed sense of empathy and reflection.
Critical autonomy, which concerns all – and the sources of information and context, and communication in the network, and the ability to realize, test not to fall for provocation, as they say, “don’t feed the trolls” and ability to “disconnect” from the network is the most important skill a new digital life.
Now all the time you need to remember that you leave a digital trail. We have already digitized in principle, starting with birth and ending with death, with all our tests, biometrics, school diaries, online banks, Commerce, services, religious sermons, messengers and electronic services of the state (from taxes and fines to the opportunity to vote via mobile, as is already the case in Estonia, for example).
Of course, this has a great potential, and danger, but in any case, digital reality is a new part of life to which humanity must adapt.
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So, media literacy, health information and the ability to refuse the media, developing skills for critical autonomy and doubt as to what to do media is a part of everyday life.
Young massively teach senior digital literacy
The young generation is the first generation in history that not only gets the experience of previous generations: it is the first time massively is teaching the older generation to be in the new digital environment.
And the older generation is forced to agree. But how else? Only the young can quickly show, to explain, to configure, click on the desired button. This generation is now helping his neighbors senior well, at least not to be trapped, and this applies to everything from ordering products or drugs prior to the use of Bank cards, a portal or entry to the doctor.
Photo: tamboff.ru
Some corporations, such as Google, especially for so-called “silver age” books. Generally work with the older generation in terms of digital literacy and security is very useful, it is volunteering for young people.
Media literacy becomes a necessity
Young people have a very important mission – to teach to exist in the digital environment of their children. And there’s a chance that they will become more aware of their parents “new digital”.
Media literacy is the first task of the family: as children are taught to brush their teeth morning and evening and explain to my girls that don’t need to get on the Elevator with someone else’s uncle, you need to do the same with the digital environment.
You can’t throw the baby plate and calm down. We need to see what kind of information environment it is in, to explain to him what a cute avatar may be the same “man from the Elevator”, and why social networks need to be careful. And the question is not prohibition, an explanation of, the joint development of the digital world, trust. You can interact still people alive with real people, not just gadgets.
But media literacy today is the task of the formal and informal education, because the background of the challenges of the digital environment and the emerging new technological order (embedded in all areas of systems and devices, artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, big data Analytics, blockchain, etc.) mediaecology and media literacy become conscious a necessity. It is no coincidence that the Nordic countries – Finland, Norway – it is entered at the school level. Last year there were lessons in some States of Germany, there are large projects in Latin America, in the United States, in Asia, in the CIS countries.
Anna Kachkaeva. Photo: Sergey Shedrin
UNESCO is engaged in medical school media-information literacy the fourth decade, but only in the last decade, the topic ceases to be peripheral to the global world. In Russia, MIG is also actively developing in the field related to media education, pedagogy, library culture, and in the field related to media journalism, media communications, creative industries.
Already have a master’s degree for media educators in pedagogical University of Moscow, has regional centres and the media (while not numerous) supporting programs for students and citizens, that is, projects factchecking, educational programs for media criticism, kinorabotoy, digital security at several regional universities.
Our regional school “About the news – well!” according to media and news literacy for students not mediaspecialized, our HSE program relevant to undergraduate and University-wide minor, annually organizes international and local conferences, Days of media literacy in the framework of the regional Boards for complaints against the press, global media literacy Week under the auspices of UNESCO.
All this – the components necessary to the realization that we exist in a world where reality and postrealism, passing one another, and there is a new reality. “Animate” (as he wrote classics mediaecology) world of media has expanded to a fantastic extent. And the main subject of the demand in the digital age – the human in man.
Talked Hope Prokhorov