Everyone has been exposed to the emotion of either not understanding younger generations or being the misunderstood generation. The consistency among generations as they age, is that the younger generations’ culture is seemingly irrelevant and not worth spending much thought on. Therefore, these things are discounted and due to how things are shared digitally, these cultural points could be lost. However, it would appear that the ever-changing landscape of the internet and how we connect as individuals and societies, will alter the aging mind’s perspective.
The change will be sourced in the understanding that the things happening on the internet: what’s shared, the commentary, and what has the highest hits/ratings, has immense informational and cultural value. As generations age, there should be less and less of a disconnect in understanding across generations because they will be more exposed to the lifestyles of the other.
The article compares the revolutionary finding of dark matter in space to the vastness of the internet that has yet to be explored, documented, and understood. Over the span of seven years, two self-proclaimed “nerds” created, fostered, and grew an entire community in which they gave back to through charitable donations. These two “nerds” ended up surpassing Oprah Winfrey’s numbers of viewers and subscribers. Noting how two “nerds” accumulated their numbers despite getting their start from being community focused.
Recently, a shoe brand ran an ad campaign that used augmented reality (AR) technology that allowed users to view classic artwork, such as The Mona Lisa, and through their phone an AR painting appeared below with a painting of what shoes they believe the subject would have been wearing. The campaign in itself may have not been historical but the use of newer technology can encourage groups to interact with various arts and history.
Which leads into how important it is for historians and researchers to adapt to the changing world; technology is evolving at a fast rate and yet, the internet is evolving faster. A base understanding of how the internet functions is a necessity when beginning the process of understanding and archiving. Which plays into an understanding and curiosity required from all age ranges within the historical and research fields.
In a quote from the article, an important issue was pinpointed; “The problem wasn’t a lack of culture in the community, it was that people weren’t associating their creative lives with the galleries, museums, concert halls, and other formal arts institutions that were created and operated on their behalf,” focusing on how the problem centered around what society at large considered creative, and can be altered from a shift in perspective.
The internet allows for two important things to take place; ideas, content, and creations are shared and communities naturally form. Which opens the door for the lesser known artists to release their creations and for once, it can essentially be accessed by anyone allowing for higher chances of exposure. If historians and researchers are proactive in understanding and archiving the digital world, there will be many aspects of today’s culture that risk being lost forever.
Article: https://medium.com/code-words-technology-and-theory-in-the-museum/dark-matter-a6c7430d84d1