For most people in my generation, we are swiftly adjusting to the new definition of ‘new’. For people outside my generation, they are also being ‘forced’ to adjust to what ‘new’ in the sense of the media denotes. I do not think it is an extension of us again, I think it is now an appendage – our newest body parts. I’m interested here in seeing how our daily lives now revolve around this form. Activities for a growing population of young people are now defined around these tools and their several additions. A typical day overview would suffice and let’s see to what degree this is a reflection of you!
You are woken in the morning by a new media tool – the alarm programme on your phone. I wonder if those table alarms still find buyers (that’s assuming they are still in the market). Then if you are the type that is serious with your faith, you grab your phone and tap on the Bible or Quran application on it and nourish your spiritual essence. If you woke up before day broke and it is still dark and you live in our part of the country where power supply is a luxury then it’s likely you may have to find your way around the house by using that flashlight app on your phone to illuminate your path.
Off to the bathroom you probably are headed and if you are like my friend that finds therapy from listening to music, then you possibly would scroll through the mobile gadget till you find your favourite playlist. With this playing, you relieve yourself in the loo and eventually scrub your body while managing a whistle or nodding to the rhythm of the music.
The day is taking shape. If you have a cable television at home and you are lucky there is power supply, you switch it on while you fix a quick breakfast and in my shoes you’ll flip between the cable news channels to see how the day may possibly pan out. The design of the satellite is one of the major breaks of the new media. In the absence of that, you possibly would settle for listening to the news on radio signals intercepted by your phone, having plugged the headset in the jacket. It’s time to head to work.
In the vehicle conveying you to work, it’s time to really get social on and with the new media. The Facebook and Twitter application comes handy here. You scroll through your Facebook timeline and see how the discussions for yesterday’s premiership match turned out. You type a sentence or two on some status post to register your thought. Then, Facebook reminds you that your brother and girlfriend’s birthday is that day and you heave a sigh of relieve wondering if you would have remembered but for this now famous aide memoire. You pretend as though you truly had them in mind and dial their numbers. Your brother is happy you called and you wish him a happy birthday anniversary. Your girlfriend’s mobile line, thanks to the occasional poor network, refuses to connect. You compose a lovely text and send to her telling her how she is the only woman left on the planet and you promise to call her later during office lunch break.
You switch application to Twitter and you see the trending issues. You are enraged by some and smile at others. You join in tweeting, alarmed by the pardon given to the trending #Alams and vent your spleen on the government for taking such a decision now. After about 25 tweets and retweets, you calm down and give yourself a pat on the back, after all you are now an activist; a conscientious advocate for good governance! Then you remember the laundry guy who is supposed to drop your office wears for the week, you search him out on your blackberry instant messenger and ping him, asking what time he would deliver the laundry. He also pings back that he is already enroute your office. It’s the new pattern of business in the new age.
At the office now, you briefly exchange banters and settle to work. You flip open your laptop and connect to the office’s wifi. Your mail account is waiting with a couple of emails. A memorandum from the office, informing you of a visit from headquarters on Thursday and another asking you to forward the report of your department for last month, without the use of a draft, you type furiously, first sketching your thoughts and then framing them together. You pick information from earlier saved files on your desktops to supplement the report. I wonder what the sales figure for pens are like now, especially with the growing dependence of writing in the digital form. It’s almost 12 noon and you are done with the report; you send it to the office’s printer wifi and go collect the documents on the printer’s tray. You file the hard copy and email a soft copy to your boss. Off to the board room you go for a meeting, your boss’s boss is at the meeting, thanks to Skype, and he briefs you all of the proposed facility tour for Thursday.
You have done well with office work today. You make a few phone calls to your buddy, asking him which of the bars you guys will be watching the El- classico from; an almost impossible feat years ago.
It’s time to close and you suddenly feel you can take home a document and finish off the work at home. You remove your USB enabled wristwatch and insert it into the system and send the files into it.
You head home wondering why traffic is becoming worrisome; you tweet at a famous traffic handle to ask if other routes are like that. You are shocked with the reply – a trailer is sprawled across the road due to an accident. You find your earphones, play some music and decide to check the e-book your friend sent to you. The one he said is now threatening the record of J.K Rowlings’ Harry Porter Series. In between, you ping for a while and switch to Whatsapp for a couple of minutes, while also answering some left messages on Badoo. Tired of all this, you decide to watch a movie on your i-Pad and you connect your earpiece to it via Bluetooth. Enjoying it, you laugh alone. People around you understand and do not deem you a mental case!
It’s 10.30pm and you are home. Then, you remember the money you promised to send to your mum’s account. You head for your bag, grab your token and log on to the bank’s website. Five minutes after, your mother is calling to thank you, albeit wondering how you sent the money at that time. This is how it plays out in today’s new media world. Did I leave out anything?
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‘Sola Fagorusi
Sola Fagorusi is a youth development advocate, freelance writer, accomplished debater cum coach. The Obafemi Awolowo University graduate has about 10 years experience in social entrepreneurship which straddles leadership, good governance cum anti-corruption and adolescent reproductive health. The Leap Africa alumnus is also a trained peer educator, a DESPLAY alumnus and co-facilitator. For 2 years now, he has been a technical consultant and lead judge on the Intra-Faith Peace Youth TV Debate Project facilitated by Youngstars Foundation and the British High Commission. To read his full profile, click here
