Monday, February 21, 2011

The Media's Impact on Aura

With the emergence of the internet and the intimacy of news and events have decreased significantly. The internet created a new medium to transport information and through this cold medium information loses it's aura. The aura of information has slowly been decreasing throughout the 20th century, however the internet has taken this loss to a new level. In sports this is very evident, the experience being at a game compared to watching it on television on streaming it on the computer is completely different.
“Even the most perfect reproduction of a work is lacking in one element: it’s presence in time and space.”(1) Nothing will ever replace face to face contact. When I talk to my friends about serious topics I refuse to talk through an IRC or on the phone. The aura, or intimacy, of a face to face conversation can never be replicated, whether it'd be video chat or another method

1) Benjamin, Walter Illuminations: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction pg. 220

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