The Media Equation

Reeves, B., & Nass, C. (1996). Chapter 1: The media equation. In The media equation (pp. 3-18). Cambridge University Press. Available online at: http://guir.berkeley.edu/courses/cs198/papers/mediaeq.pdf

I found “The Media Equation” to be absolutely fascinating. It brought up so many points that I had never thought about before, but once I reflected on them they made total sense. For example, I have always gotten a smile out of watching my first grade students at the computer playing a game, especially ones where there is an animated character taking them through the steps of the activity. They smile and nod, sometime talk back to the screen, and often if they encounter an area of difficulty they will come over to me in a huff and tell me that “He [the character] didn’t tell me how to ______.” It is like they are interacting with a real person and are upset if “he” fails to provide them with what they deem as adequate support. They tattle on animated characters! I have always attributed this behavior to their level of cognitive reasoning…like the on-screen popcorn example given in the article. Now I am wondering if it has more to do with their expectations of social rules. I think the quote that really hit me was when Reeves & Nass (1996) state, “In short, we have found that individual’s interactions with computers, television, and new media are fundamentally social and natural, just like interaction in real life” (p. 5). This is when I started reflecting on my own interactions with technology…wow…I kind of hate to admit this, but

• · I do try to tell the Bachelor (my TV guilty pleasure…lol) who to pick and yell at him when he makes a “bad” choice.

• · I get frustrated when it takes me too long to learn a new computer application, but hate to admit it in a review. Take GIMP for example. It took me HOURS to figure out how to do some basic editing, but when I wrote the review I truly felt bad/guilty about saying negative things about the PROGRAM! Every time I said something negative I felt like I had to follow it up with saying that I was going to keep trying to use it and that I was sure I would be able to figure it out, like it was more my fault than its. I was treating a computer application like it had real feelings that I didn’t want to hurt! I would compare it to a parent conference, you always have to say something positive to “offset” the fact that little Johnny won’t sit still and can’t read even though it’s the fourth nine weeks…

• · I feel a sense of true connection to my friends over email…it can make me smile, laugh, and even cry…like I’m having a “real” conversation with that friend.

• · I jump back when an image on the screen “comes towards me” quickly.

• · I get completely emotionally involved in movies, even ones that I have seen multiple times.

I hope all of these things don’t mean that I am lacking needed skills in cognitive reasoning (or psychological evaluation…lol)!! :o) But seriously, based on my own reflections, I really do believe in the media equation. I agree with Reeves & Nass (1996) when they state, “Modern media now engage old brains. People can’t always overcome the powerful assumption that mediated presentations are actual people and objects. There is no switch in the brain that can be thrown to distinguish the real and mediated worlds” (p. 12).What does this mean for my chosen topic of digital photography? It gives a researched “reason” for why digital images seem to really affect people’s emotions…it means that digital images have even more power over people than I originally assumed. According to Reeves & Nass (1996), “Pictures, too, are natural experience” (p.6). I think that is why digital photos are so powerful. Our brain doesn’t look at them as photos of people--our brain looks at them as “real” people.

For example, look at the photo that I have posted of the little boy. When I saw it, it actually moved me to tears. I feel empathy for him even though I know nothing about him other than he looks sad and is sitting in a pile of rubble. Maybe it’s mostly because I’m in the business of helping children, but it breaks my heart to see that photo! I just want to try to find him and help him, give him a hug and tell him that everything will be okay…all that emotion from a photo. That’s powerful if you ask me. And I think that it is truly do to the media equation.

Photo from: http://geese68.wordpress.com/photography-war-some-pictures-mayshould-cause-upset/