To what extent is New Media Technology to blame for increase in Assignment

To what extent is New Media Technology to blame for increase in anti-social behaviour within social groups - Assignment Example New media entails digitalization of content that can be produced at once at the set time, as contrasted to traditional printed media (Bers & Bers, 2011). Digital activities can be seen in DVDS, the internet and social media, computer games, amongst others. Basically, what is correlated to the internet, and interplay between technology images and sounds may be termed as new media (Bers & Bers, 2011). In the work of Clarke (2003) and Cardwell & Flanagan (2003) anti-social behavior refers to behaviors that lack thoughtfulness for the other persons and the society at large. At times, the behavior may either be premeditated or unintentional, but as Morrison, (2007) indicates, these behaviors create unsociable individuals. This is to mean that anti-social behaviors are contrary to the norms of the society. They may range from rape to drug addiction. While the new media has been instrumental in making the world a global village, the media has also had its dark side on the society. As seen in the research by Bull (2000) new media has brought a completely new auditory experience to the users. The work clearly explains the experience of a user with the iPod that can select music, which has been termed by Bull (2000) as an urban experience. Through personal stereos, Bull (2000) emphasizes that users can control their aural environments by blocking the ‘undesirable city sounds.’ He gives an example of a passenger travelling, and how musical experience rearranges their experience of time (Bull, 2000). It is evident from this iPod that the individual locks the ‘outside world’ contact to a creation of their own world, be it traffic or a neighbor starting a conversation. Cardwell & Flanagan’s (2003) work indicates that negative influences on the environment like noise may aggravate anti-social behavior. Applying the social learning theory (vicarious reinforcement and observational learning) an individual is likely to imitate what is heard especially if the