If you don't have a cell phone, you can't reach your friends. If you have no instant messaging service, how will you be entertained when you're trying to do homework? Without Facebook, you can't see your friend's latest pictures. All of these things are keeping us connected with each other. However, that's all they are doing.
These new technologies give us easy access to people and our favorite things. Cell phones can give us scores to games of our favorite teams. Yet, this does not make us change our favorite teams. New media don't change what people read and watch. My favorite show on television right now is 24. Awhile back, they started doing promotions on a certain type of telephone that you could use to watch mobile episodes (mobisodes) of 24. During Christmas break, I got Season 4 on DVD and the mobisodes were included on one of the discs. I still haven't watched them. This extra perq doesn't mean that I will give up on the show and watch some other way.
The KUJH Website has just recently aded the ability to podcast its news stories, but what has changed about the news that we already cover? Nothing. It's the same news. The only thing that has changed is how you obtain it.
The rise of new connections just gives us new ways of keeping in touch with people. It doesn't change our preferences for what or how we watch.
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