27/04/2012

#Desperate Newspapers

I read an article today that discussed the fact that we are basically devolving back to our caveman ancestors, due to the slow decline of our ability to communicate thanks to mobile phones and social networks.  All articles that talk about this sort of thing conjure up the depressing image of a restaruant full of people all starting gormlessly at their phones and neglecting real conversation. And it's true - this is what the word looks like nowadays. No longer can we stand in a queue without playing on our phones - we never look around anymore. The article, which dramatically proclaims 'the digital revolution is over, by which I mean it is won', has this at the end:


Add your suggestions below the line or tweet us @commentisfree with the hashtag #conversation


Well. Amid Murdoch's recent prediction that newspapers have ten years left to live - I wonder how much of it is down to the stupidity of journalists - like the one who ended this article with a hashtag? The article also says, 'those who used to call a friend in trouble now send a text'. And I guess those who used to talk about the news now go to Twitter. 


It's true that our attention spans are declining and our stress levels are on the rise, and this is partly down to our technology-saturated lives. But this isn't just our own willpowers at fault - as much as a newspaper may advocate real conversation - they'd never miss a chance to raise their online profile. 


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