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In this era of globalization and modernization, it is undeniable that the media plays a significant role in our daily lives. We can gain information easily and even get educated from different types of media no matter it is traditional media or new media. As technology is flourishing nowadays, new media has become ubiquitous and it is part and parcel in our lives. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, new media are defined as products and services that provide information or entertainment using computers or the internet, and not by traditional methods such as television and newspapers. In other words, new media are forms of media that use digital technologies such as the Internet. Email, websites, social media networks and blogs are some examples of new media that are frequently used by people from all walks of life, and they have become indispensable in our lives. In fact, new media is like a double-edged sword as it has its pros and cons. Therefore, this essay is going to delve into the depths of the merits, demerits and importance of new media.
First of all, new media provides us with the convenience of accessing almost all content on the Internet. We can access the Internet fast and easily anywhere and anytime as long as we have an electronic device. To quote an example, students nowadays can look for unlimited sources via various search engines online such as Google, Baidu, Yahoo and so on, which is very convenient as compared to the older generation. They can get up to a billion search results just by typing specific keywords in the search box. On top of that, we can learn different skills such as cooking, singing, dancing and others from the Internet as many free tutorials can be found on social media and websites, which can help to save a lot of money. We can find any tutorial on the Internet as long as we can name them out and are willing to learn them. It may be said without fear of contradiction that new media has indeed made our lives simpler as it allows us to access anything on the Internet easily and can gain a lot of information just at the end of our fingertips.
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Apart from that, the presence of new media has acted as a catalyst in uniting people from all walks of life. As we are all aware, younger generations nowadays tend to rely on social media a lot. Social media such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have become social platforms where they like to share their stories and even make new friends. We can share pictures of us traveling, our outfit of the day or even random pictures to get likes and comments. We can get to know netizens from all over the world and their culture, which helps to enhance the relationship of people from different countries. Students who are studying abroad can still keep in touch with their family members by sending online messages or even video calling in which all of these functions are free to use. As compared to the time when new media was still absent, people can only send letters which are very expensive at that time and it was difficult for them to contact each other. Therefore, it can be clearly seen that new media has helped to connect people from different backgrounds and it has made our lifestyle easier.
However, even though the emergence of new media has brought along a lot of advantages, it has its drawbacks too. As people from all over the world have access to the Internet, some of them are anonymous. Being anonymous online leads to a problem where people tend to take advantage of it and started to commit cybercrimes and being irresponsible about their doings. For instance, internet scamming, cyberbullying and hacking are things that people like to do online anonymously. Hackers will hack into the victim’s accounts for money, while scammers will use many excuses to ask the victims to give them their bank account or even a large amount of money. Consequently, these actions will bring a powerful impact on the victims in the aspect of mentally and physically. Mentally, victims will not trust others easily in the future as they are hurt, while physically, victims might face bankruptcy after being scammed or hacked. Hence, it is indubitably true that new media has its disadvantages as people can do things anonymously online, which makes them irresponsible for their own behaviors.
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Moreover, there is too much information on new media in which some of them might be harmful and unbelievable. To further illustrate on this point, when we search for specific information on the Internet, there will be many different articles with different contents. With so many different articles, we might get confused as we do not know how to distinguish the good from the bad. Some people might be misled by the wrong information and do something awful unconsciously. For example, some articles are stating that coffee is good for us as it helps to burn fat and improve our physical performance. However, some also stated that coffee might increase the risk of us getting heart disease and stunt growth. As a result, people will get confused about whether coffee is good or bad for them. Accordingly, even though new media has given us access to many sources online, overload information will still confuse us.
Although new media has its pros and cons, it is undeniably true that new media is irreplaceable nowadays. People of all ages should learn and adapt to it as it not only helps to save money but it has made our lifestyle better. As we are all aware, Malaysians have just experienced the 2020 Movement Control Order in which they have to stay at home for almost three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, citizens can check for the latest statistics at home with the help of new media. Some people started to do live on social media to promote their products while some people conducted online meetings at home to keep their business on track since they were not able to go to work. In the aspect of entertainment, citizens can watch dramas and even play games online to kill their boredom. Animal Crossing, Player Unknown's Battlegrounds and Among Us are some examples of games in which people like to play during this period. Besides, they can take advantage of this opportunity to learn new skills at home. A lot of people started to work out during this period, while some people learned to cook by watching tutorial videos on YouTube. If new media do not exist, we will not be able to do many things and will definitely feel bored and time-wasting at home. Therefore, it can be clearly seen that new media has changed our lives in many aspects and people nowadays rely on them a lot.
By and large, new media play a vital role in this modern age even though it has its disadvantages. Facts speak for themselves and it is true that new media have indeed made our lives better and simpler as long as we do not misuse them. Although some of the older people are still not used to new media, most of them are already adapting to it. To wrap up, people from all walks of life should appreciate the existence of new media and should make good use of it.
Written by Fionna Lee
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