Lesson Six: It's Not What You Know, It's If You Can Figure Out What To Do With It

University is a place I dread, I'd admit that. There are reasons behind this. I live 2 hours from where I study. I have no motivation, experience, connections, and sometimes even interest in what I am currently studying (BoBusiness/Media & Communcication). But most of all, I'm a critic of the system. Theory over practice. Much like Todd, I am left completely stumped when asked what field I would like to work in when I'm finished and am left asking myself "Why am I even doing this?"

"What about a degree in New Media?" you ask. Well, according to Gill (2007) many of the New Media practitioners interviewed for his study had a degree in media and communcations. Check (hopefully). Creativity, communication skills and an eye for future trends. I'd like to think so. But what is this? Passion and enthusiasm for the field, long working hours, poor wages and working conditions, and a reliance of personal contacts and connections to find work. I'm not so sure. If having a passion or desire for the industry you wish to work is the key to a successful and happy career, then I'll stick to a skate shop, or a record store. And then there's the high failure rate of Australian small business...




(Source: ShortFilms13D [Yep, that's me])

This whole 'searching for a career' thing is a headache, but I'm sure I'll figure it out some day.

Gill, R. (2007). Informality is the New Black. In Technobohemians or the new Cybertariat? New Media work in Amsterdam a decade after the web. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures: 24-30 & 38-43

O'Brien, T. New Media, Internet Self and Beyond. toddobrien.blogspot.com

Lesson Five: If Pain Persists, Consult Your Nearest Practitioner

(Source: TopNews.in)

Gaining sound practitional advice, in many instances, can be a painstaking process. Being passed on from one professional to the next takes time, money and patience, often only to receive a incorrect diagnosis and poor expert advice. Rather than sit in the appropriately titled 'waiting room', New Media has allowed users to access health information in an instant, linking their exact symptoms to an approximate diagnosis using sites such as MedHelp.org. I have experienced this personally, having visited 6 different professionals between 4 clinics, only to be incorrectly cleared on two seperate occasions of muscular injury.

Having this kind of access to medical information online, however, can provide a misinterpreted diagnosis of ones symptoms. Lewis (2006) raises this issue in his article Seeking health information on the internet: lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria? Cyberchondria, according to Yellowlees (2000), "occurs in anxious or hypochondriacal patients who start spending too much time chasing around the Web searching for information which may make them more anxious".

Like health supplements, which should be taken as directed in unison with physical activity and other professional advice, information and advice taken from New Media tools such as MedHelp.org should be used to narrow the scope for your local health practitioner, rather than a quick-fix or self-diagnosis of your medical condition.

Lewis, T. 2006. Seeking health information on the internet: lifestyle choice or a bad attack of cyberchondria? In Media, Culture and Society.

Med Help. 2011. Available at http://www.medhelp.org

Yellowlees, L. M. 2000. The World Wide Web is becoming a new medium of medical practice in The Medical Journal of Australia, 173 (629-630).