Has Wechat Become Our Way of Life

王莎璦

Abstract： Amusing Ourselves to Death has demonstrated howTV has changed peoples life. This paper mainly demonstrates some analysis and reflections from the perspective of a newly emerged multimodality media——WeChat.It is depicted how Wechat has exerted the profound effects on mans way of life， thought and cognitivecapacity， way of communication， reading habit， etc..

Key words：Wechat； Media；Amusing Ourselves to Death

1. Introduction

In Amusing Ourselves to Death， Postman regards televisions entertainment value as a present-day “soma”， by means of which the citizens rights are exchanged for consumers entertainment. Now we have indeed come to the “Screen time” since we may spend hours in front of computer， mobile phone and video monitor.The essential premise of the book， which Postman extends to the rest of his argument， is that “form excludes the content”. That is， a particular medium can onlysustain a particular level of ideas. Thus rational argument， integral to print typography， is militated against by the medium of television for the aforesaid reason.

In this changing information time， various technologies and services emerge in an endless stream. Newly born communicative technology has brought about a radical change to human beings life. WeChat， whose users reached 200 million. It has exerted a great influence on every aspect of mankinds life.

2. Reflections of the Book-From the Perspective of WeChat

WeChat is the largest standalone-messaging app by monthly active users. Some IT critics said that by far WeChat is likely to be the fastest growing online communication tools. The newly emerged multimodality media is alternating our lifestyle， the way we conceive the world， reading habit and way of communication.

First of all， medium has changed mans way of life. The communication functions of WeChat mainly involve text messages， voice messages， chatting and voice calls. In the field of mobile instant communication， WeChat no doubt has defeated all the competitors， occupying the first position. The popularity and massive acceptance of it indeed reflects that man tend to favor a more convenient， hurried and rapid way of communication.

Moreover， WeChat has altered the structure of peoples mind and their cognitive capacities. It is said “there is water everywhere， while nowhere can we drink it.” We are drenched in an ocean of messages but nowhere can we identify valuable messages. We can hardly identify any profound thinking， penetrating analysis， deep sensibility or sincere sharing on WeChat， which are like rare shining gold among the sand.

Furthermore， WeChat has changed mankinds reading habit. Some popular magazines， like “Reader” or classic novels have already been knocked out. We have been used to skimming “subscriptions” on WeChat. We prefer information of novelty， interesting and curiosity but not that of value or function. “Reading by nature is a serious business as well as an essentially rational activity”， Postman pointed out in the book. However， we read for amusement. Feelings like paper turning or underlining the enlightening sentences with our pencil has faded away. What we read is the words skipping on the screen， instead of “sequential， propositional written words” printed on the books.

3. Critiques

It is an era when talent shows and Korean soap operas are extremely popular around the world. The mania for them has unavoidably spread through in China. A multitude of similar programs， imitating those of Korea or America， namely Running Man， The Voice of China， etc. have been produced to meet peoples needs for entertainment.

We should allow the existence for the popular culture， which involves the entertaining programs to amuse people， to make people laugh and relaxed. However， such popular culture should not be transformed into mainstream culture， or our nation may on the verge of collapse. So the key is that the content and form of politics， economy， education and human rights should be distinguished from that of entertainment. Instead， they are supposed to own several virtues to attach to their names， “clarity， honesty， excellence andjustice”.

4. Conclusion

One of the renowned writers of China， YU Qiuyu once said that the quality of ones life depends on his time and attention， but the flood of flowery messages is what will most probably deprive us of it. If we are excessively indulged in the “fast-food” life style brought about by the medium， such as WeChat， Internet， etc.， we will be overwhelmed by “information glut” until what is truly meaningful is lost and we no longer care what weve lost since we are being amused.

When a three-year old boy taps the gorgeous screen of mobile phone innocently but curiously， when a group of kids gather around staring at the splendid screen of pad rather than run out to embrace the nature， when we bow our heads gazing at the “moment”， but ignore the caring and loving eyes of our grandmother. Do we feel pity and guilty？ Mankind has a fancy for such media， however， “what we love will ruin us.”

[References]

[1]Postman， Neil. （1986）. Amusing Ourselves to Death-Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business， Penguin Books.

[2]Zhao Baoguo， FengXuyan， （2014）. Research on the Relationship of WeChat and Mobile Communication.School of Economics and Management， Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

[3]曹進，呂佐娜，大眾文化視角下的“新新”媒介探析-以騰訊微信為研究對象， 東南傳媒，2012（9）

[4]馬思琪，論尼爾·波茲曼的媒介批評思想，新聞世界，2013（8）：308-309 王灝， 吳曉春，語言符號學視域下微信傳播語言特點探析，東南傳播，2013（11）

（作者單位：浙江大學外國語言文化與國際交流學院，浙江 杭州 310058）