Electronic media are increasingly enveloping us. An electronic environment is beginning to suffocate our senses all our waking hours. There is one main culprit. Cell phones are with us everywhere, sending us texts from friends and family, and making the internet available all the time.
How to describe this increasing ecology of media? It used to be described as "mass communication" with various "effects." But by the twenty-first century, mass communication is also highly personal. And it is so all-pervasive that there doesn't seem to be any way to separate out "effects." Media are simply part of the fabric of everyday life. This is true for most people in the United States and Europe, especially for the young. Here is where language can help us think about this situation.
A word has started to appear in discussions of driving. The word is "distracted." It refers to drivers who pay more attention to their cell phones, or their text messages, than they do to driving. The results can be fatal. No statistics are available on this phenomenon yet. But the number of accidents, injuries, and fatalities are growing. You can die because you are a distracted driver, or you can die because a distracted driver runs into you. I teach college students, and usually there is someone in my classes who knows someone who was injured or killed in this way.
The word "distracted" seems to be a growing term. It has also been applied to students who become so absorbed in their online relationships that they pay less attention to schoolwork or to people in their own surroundings. I see distracted students in my classes when I allow computers to be open--for taking notes--but soon people are checking texts, surfing the web to see the latest movie trailers and the latest Facebook postings, and, oh, yes, checking back into what is happening in class occasionally.
"Distracted" becomes a problem for people reading books on electronic devices. Sure, you will be fine for a couple of pages, but then it is so easy to check into the latest news, or see the weather forecast, or find out the current score in that basketball game. And what about the coach who benched our favorite quarterback?
I ask my students to think about these issues, and many of them say that they use electronic contacts to avoid face-to-face interactions. It is easier to text someone a short message, and get texts back, than to actually talk with them. There is an etiquette of texting--you should respond right away. If you do not, the other person will feel ignored or put down. This etiquette leads to texting while driving--which about half of my students admit to doing.
This etiquette--to respond to texts right away--is also evident as people talk directly with other people. They interrupt their conversation and pay attention to the cell phone. Students who write about this admit that it is unfriendly, but say everyone expects it. So we are becoming distracted from our current real social life. In fact, media for connection, which are supposed to keep us "in touch," are in fact separating us as well. Are we creating a new kind of "lonely crowd?"
And as we find "distraction" spreading through more of our lives, another metaphor becomes appropriate. The "magnetism" of the media is pulling our consciousness into the media zone and away from reality. Electronic illusions are grabbing our attention. The world of real experience fades into a background. This cannot be healthy.
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