Technology and Memory

The relationship between memory and the factors that create or perpetuate it is a topic that garners more and more attention. In a mass-mediated society such as our own, the area of memory studies is gaining distinction in regards to its focus on the impact that various media have on both our individual and collective consciousness. To the extent that events are documented and repeatedly shown to us, what impact does this have on our memories of these events (whether experienced firsthand or via another medium), and thus on our perceptions and definitions of society? Both individual and collective events are experienced differently when documented and made a recorded part of "history", as could be demonstrated in the aftermath of September 11. In relation to the horror/disbelief surrounding this event, people spoke of the repeating images shown in the media as something "out of a movie". This may provide an example as to how media are used as a template against which "real" events are compared, interpreted and managed.

This also brings up a question in regards to the effects of various media. Photography, for example, is a medium that has been and continues to be used as a way to preserve memory or document history (both personal and public). What is meant by preserving memory? In these documentations, are we actually creating memory? Where does Internet2 fit in in regards to its own mediation of experience and memory? Those who seek to use this medium are seeking out a unique form of collaboration or connection. Do these unique characteristics make an I2 experience more memorable (or how may it mediate memory/experience differently) ? How would viewing the documentation of an I2 event differ or change our memory of that event? Lastly, in speaking of the effects of media on collective consciousness, how could the use of I2 as a medium effect consciousness around a larger societal issue or event?