Reading this month’s Rolling Stone– you know, the one where Al Gore kicks some rhetorical ass on climate change deniers and even Obama– has this little stat: “Approximately 75 percent of those using the Internet frequently watch television at the same time that they are online.
I know I often look at my Twitter feed, read email, or glance at Facebook on my iPhone while watching TV. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it’s certainly something that’s common in my family.
The irony, of course, to Gore’s quote is that as we immerse ourselves in information, we are given the ability to self-select information that will often confirm our beliefs– which closes us off to other credible information that may challenge our assumptions. The overall effect is a narrowing of knowledge and willingness to accept new information.
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I'd say it's even worse…not only are we given the ability to self-select, the computer does it for us. Yahoo is my main page, and I'm sure the news stories that come up are selected partly because of other stories I've clicked in the past, or because they are Bay Area stories. So not only do we have the ability, but the internet selects information for us that agrees with us, so we are, as you say, closed off to other credible information that might challenge our assumptions. Not good.
One bad thing about watching TV and being on the computer at the same time is that I often have to ask you about key plot points, because I've missed what's going on. Silly.