So I feel like this is a topic that seems to come up a lot when talking about our new media age. I’m talking about the idea our new media is making us become less able to concentrate on long passages and books. Our generation seems to lose interest in long articles and start to be distracted by the idea of looking at something else. I came across an interesting expression of this idea in this week’s reading. Article 11 has a reference in that we are “pancake people” meaning that we are spread thin and connect to a huge portal of information by simply going onto our computers.
Is it our fault that we are becoming these “pancake people”? I do not think we actively choose to become like this. The media of today is so easily accessible, so tempting, that it is constantly in our minds. While I read an article for class, my mind tends to wander to other things that I could be doing. I tell myself that I should check Facebook and see who’s attending that Facebook event. Or that I want to get a new necklace, I should take a moment and search for one on eBay. I hate how much of a “pancake person” I have become. It’s continually frustrating. I would like to spend hours fully concentrated on the material I need to know for my test, but I can’t help but distract myself with Cosmo articles since they are so easy in reach.
Is it a bad thing that I’m a “pancake person” when everyone around me is also a “pancake person”? Maybe, maybe not. However, I don’t see me out growing this way of thinking anytime soon since the huge portal of information is still going to be readily available tomorrow and the day after that. I guess we will all have to accept and deal with the fact that we are all “pancake people”.