Chapter 13 is covered by John Dyer as part of our Group Blogging Project discussing the book Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps. If you need a quick overview to what Flickering Pixels is about, please go here.
Cause when they own the information, they can bend it all they want.
– John Mayer
How to Misunderstand Shane Hipps
In this chapter, Hipps discusses text messaging and how it makes young people into deviants. He says that teens use text messaging to send all kinds of coded messages about sex and drugs that their parents can’t understand. This is in contrast to the good old days when adults had all the power since they were the ones who knew how to read complex books.
I disagree with Hipps because text messaging is pretty much the same as all other forms of communication – they can be used for good or used for bad. Some people, teenagers especially, will tend to find bad things to do with them, but they can also by used for good. Ultimately though, these technologies have no influence on society.
Furthermore, for every article that says texting separates parents and teens, another suggests that it brings them too close. If parents really need help, they can consult LG’s new tool LG DTXTR to decode the messages.
A Second Look at the Chapter
Of course, this chapter is not really about text messaging. Text messaging is merely Hipps’ example of how a technology can change access to information and, in turn, the change in access to information changes who has power.
Take for example the recent use of Twitter and other social networks in the Iranian protests. Twitter changed information access and thus had an effect on power structures. The same thing happened in the church when the printing press was invented – lay people suddenly had access to the Scriptures (information) and the Roman church lost its authority (power).
This is what “The Medium is the Message” means. It’s not just that technology (the medium) can alter how people perceive the words (the message), but that the technology itself alters society in monumental ways and that impact becomes the message. The “message” of the printing press was not just the words printed on pages, but the new truth that information could not be controlled. The impact (message) of the Internet (and text messaging as Hipps points) presents us with a further shift in power structures. This is true in Iran, and it’s true in households with teenagers.
Information Power and Love
As an IT person at a ministry and one with technical knowledge, I have quite a bit of power due to my control of information. So I have to ask myself: Are there areas in my life where I wield power over information and thus power in relationships? Am I always the guy with the fancy phone or computer? Do I know something others don’t via my technology? Are there areas in which I am tempted to abuse that power? Are there ways I can love others by sharing with them what I know and how I know it? Can my church community empower the broader culture by giving them information access? Is the information I communicate with my power Gospel-centered?
[Image from John]
SCBubba says
John, I really like your take on what Hipps is trying to say with his texting discussion. I think the GI Joe cartoons of days gone by used to end with PSAs telling kids that "Knowledge is Power!" With the advent of new and more accessible ways to get knowledge/information/content, the balance of power is changing.
Teens have always thought that they knew more than their parents. And now Google makes them think they have confirmed it! 🙂
One thing that texting and similar technologies has done is give people more discrete means of communicating and accessing information. Teens may more easily hide their conversations from parents, etc using texting or IM with or without codes. I think the access to communications also has an effect on the power/control structure that Hipps brings up in this chapter.
Love your questions at the end of the post. I need to think about them more….
dewde says
"Can my church community empower the broader culture by giving them information access?"
Good point! If information control is a form of power, then we can serve others by empowering them with access to information. A good example of this would be http://www.YouVersion.com. They make all those translations of God's word plainly available so as to reduce the negative impact the medium has on the message.
peace|dewde
http://dewde.com
dewde says
"Can my church community empower the broader culture by giving them information access?"
Good point! If information control is a form of power, then we can serve others by empowering them with access to information. A good example of this would be http://www.YouVersion.com. They make all those translations of God's word plainly available so as to reduce the negative impact the medium has on the message.
peace|dewde
http://dewde.com
dewde says
"Can my church community empower the broader culture by giving them information access?"
Good point! If information control is a form of power, then we can serve others by empowering them with access to information. A good example of this would be http://www.YouVersion.com. They make all those translations of God's word plainly available so as to reduce the negative impact the medium has on the message.
peace|dewde
http://dewde.com
Paul Steinbrueck says
>>It’s not just that technology (the medium) can alter how people perceive the words (the message), but that the technology itself alters society in monumental ways and that impact becomes the message.
Exactly.
Along those lines I do think that Hipps makes a great point that technology has altered the power structure related to age. It used to be that the older you got the more respect and influence you gained. But now, influence is more often determined by a person's ability to use the latest technology to communicate effectively. With that it seems like younger people are gaining the upper hand.
John L says
John, enjoying your thoughts. I love Shane, but I think he has a bad case of technophobia that clouds his balance and objectivity in Pixels (http://www.the-next-wave-ezine.info/issue126/).
“So I have to ask myself: Are there areas in my life where I wield power over information and thus power in relationships?”
Without doubt, information = power. Our job is to wield that power benevolently, compassionately, lovingly – as servants. Only a handful of people today realize how deeply and pervasively virtual information is going to change the nature of global religion. And what’s fascinating is that this fundamental change will self-organize in unexpected ways – in ways that are contrary to our inherited models of “power.”
better link
http://www.the-next-wave-ezine.info/issue126/
John Saddington says
thanks for this!
Susan_Stewart says
How often have you heard parents say My kid knows more about computers (or texting, IMing, etc) than I do?
Have not parents given over the "power" to their children? When I speak to parents about technology, I tell them there is no reason for the children to know more than they do.
I agree with John that we need to share the power.
Adam_S says
I totally agree with you Susan. There is no good reason why children need to know more than parents. If parents put in some work they can stay ahead of their children.
Adam_S says
John, I really do appriciate you trying to generously read the book. There are several times where your generous reading makes a lot of sense. And your turn of the questions really is good.
My problem is that I think that Hipps' actually words disprove his argument. The study that you reference is just one more example that both good and bad are happening with technology and our response should be much more about understanding both, than about condemning. The study came out after the book, so I can't criticize too much.
On to your questions, I am often the person that people come to with computer issues. I have no formal training but just a general interest, so maybe I assume everyone can learn as easily as I do. But I work hard to help others use technology in a way that helps them. There are times when I just want people to "get" it and they don't and it does no good to blame them for not getting it.
I do think that unrelated to technology, the church should be all about empowering people, including information. Repression of information (as happens all too often in the church) I think is more often about attempting to protect others rather than a traditional understanding of power. Some of the protection is good, but often it creates an insulation that is not in the long term health of the person.