Unpacking 'Multitasking'

Can we, as humans, multitask? Does our technology and access to digital media help or hinder us in digesting information? Clifford Nass supports that multimedia multitasking is a hinderance to society and that it’s near impossible to multitask. However, many of us claim to.  I would have to agree to a certain point that we, as humans, are able to multitask to a certain point. Digital media is both amusing and distracting. Technology today allows us to “digest” information in different new ways than previous media such as print and video, but in all reality the same way.  Many people, especially youth and young adults, seem to be attached to their devices in a way scholars and journalists call “always on,” what does that mean? Is it a problem? Is multitasking only a skill set associated with technology and a not a social skill set?

Clifford Nass has conducted studies to determine whether or not people can actually multitask. He claims that classic psychology says we can’t. His studies show that we can to an extent.  The quality of work diminishes and in some cases some people are just terrible at every task of multitasking. “Results are lousy” People claim to multitask efficiently, yet his studies show differently. People can’t think well or clearly when it comes to multimedia multitasking.

People aren’t apt to focus, I feel. Digital multitasking hinders academic performance. The attention span of youth and young adults is deceasing because of an emergence of immediacy. Patience is no longer a valued trait. I find that the thirst of knowledge has become or evolved into the mindset of a consumer or customer at McDonald’s. It is a mirror of capitalist thoughts for fast, cheap, and immediate service. Or as JG Wentworth would say for you, “It's my money and I want it now.”

This proposition is both amusing and distracting. It makes me feel more self-aware of my habits.  It’s giving me motivation to change myself, however habits are hard to break. It’s distracting because of guilt. 

Internet as a form of digital media is relatable to content of that of it’s predecessors such as print and video, due to the fact that it presents information in a way that’s already been presented. The differences between them are how easy it is to access such information. Where as print media and videos have solidity based in objects we can experience with our senses (i.e., touch, see, smell, hear, and sometimes taste) where information in cyberspace can be limited, where here I feel it becomes a less of a physical-emotional experience form of learning and focuses on pure emotional experience (you can't throw the internet). I feel as though internet provides a revolutionary idea by providing information to areas where there may be a lack of knowledge. It becomes a primary source for people who don't have the access to people with knowledge or places with the knowledge they seek (inadequate library for example). For me this plays the game of internet vs. libraries, print vs. oral, and radio vs. television. 

Because of the urgency and immediacy of information people are encouraged to be logged on and “aways on.” People are engrossed in technology because of a development of hyper stimuli. We are raised to be distracted. People even go as far to immerse themselves in digital forms of social media; such as blogs, WoW, LoL, and ever growing use of smartphones and tablets.

“Facebook is amazing because it feels like you’re doing something and you’re not doing anything. It’s the absence of doing something, but you feel gratified anyway” - Sam Crocket

Our brains are constantly stimulated and developed that way. So when is there a time for our brains to rest? Dr. Rich exclaims, “Brains are becoming habituated to distraction and switching to tasks, not to focus.

In personal experience I find myself distracted. I used to like to think about myself being a good multitasker. in the scope of things, however, I still do things linearly. My normal use of a computer is startup, open iTunes, open internet browser, type in Facebook, new tab, type in email, new tab, type in other email, new tab, type in bank, new tab, change window, start music, change window, login Facebook, change tab, login email 1, change tab, login email 2, change tab, login bank, change tab, check Facebook briefly, change tab, check email 1, close tab, check email 2, close tab, check bank info, close tab, look at Facebook in a zombie trancelike state. message a few people. 

In other experiences, for classwork I try to stay on task with few minutes between 20 min increments of reading and homework to check Facebook or look up a video. However, when my icon changes from Facebook to Facebook (1) I get distracted and have to get rid of the icon just as fast when a 1 appears on any app on my phone.

I live in a life of distractions. But it’s always not digital media that distract me. It's my interest in art. I can spend hours folding paper, drawing, playing piano, cooking, baking, or painting. My other distractions include cleaning and organizing. Getting into the mindset of wanting to work. 


Frontline
Digital Nation
http://www.thirteen.org/programs/frontline/digital-nation/

New York Times
Growing up Digital, Always Wired
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0