Digital Technology: Help or Hindrance? Remembering in the Twenty-first Century

Authors

  • Nicole Bloudoff Dalhousie University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5931/djim.v9i1.3360

Keywords:

digital technology, memory, human memory, information in society, remembering, forgetting, memory comprehension, twenty-first century, 21st century

Abstract

People are adapting to technologies such as smart phones, portable hard drives, USB keys and online repertoires that are easy to acquire and use. We access the internet from almost anywhere, as well as store documents, pictures, artwork, journals, and records on our external devices. Digital technology is useful, but is it eliminating our brain‘s ability to remember? This paper will identify possible future effects of digital technologies on human memory. The switch from physical to digital records has effectively changed our attitudes towards memorabilia, causing a proliferation of massive file storage, but less file usage. Humans are experiencing unique new ambivalence where their data is safe, yet always subject to technical malfunction. Message interruption research has shown negative results regarding average memory retention. Implications for information managers are also discussed–stressing the importance of creating backup copies, as well as introducing memory retention practices to the workplace.

Author Biography

Nicole Bloudoff, Dalhousie University

Nicole Bloudoff  is currently enrolled in her first year of the Masters of Library and Information Studies at Dalhousie University. Originally from British Columbia, she completed her Bachelor of Arts with interest in creative writing and political science at Thompson Rivers University. This paper developed from a personal interest in the human memory retention of digital data compared with physical data, and the effects of these new technologies on our newly networked minds. This paper was originally written for the Information in Society course from the School of Information Management at Dalhousie University.

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Published

2013-03-29

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1 (2013)

Section

Articles

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