The article, “New Media, Networking and Phatic Culture” written by Vincent Miller did not grab my attention right away, but by the third page I was intrigued. One concept that is made perfectly clear to me also made me sad. The manner in which people communicate has changed. The art of conversation is dying; it is being replaced by “communication between people that [is] more ephemeral and more akin to an exchange of ‘data’ than deep, substantive or meaningful communication based on mutual understanding” (390). This quote conveys to me that this form of communication, via blogs, social networks and microblogs, is superficial. There has been a shift from substantive communication to brief connections. The purpose of these Wam Bam Thank You Mam communications, such as Facebook and Twitter, is to stay connected and be “continually contactable”. The article states, “the overall result is that in phatic media culture, content is not king but keeping in touch is” (395).

What I don’t understand is the attraction of Twitter; it seems to me to be extremely egocentric for the writer and obsessive for the follower. There are also rumors abound that celebrities are paid to twitter… I am not familiar with the whole concept, but it does not sound that ethical to me... but then advertising is manipulative and unethical at times.

Miller’s article can be compared to the “Coming of Age with the Internet” by McMillan and Morrison in the sense that blogging, Facebook and Twitter all deal with virtual communities. Personally, I agree with this article's take on the whole situation: “Many informants warned about the potential downside of communities that were defined by technology and interests, rather than geography and relationships” (85). It concerns me that we may be producing adults deficient in the ability to socialize in person.

I am looking forward to discussing the second article in class. Due to the end of the quarter and time constraints, I was unable to include that article in my blog.