This graphic demonstrates the difficulty that humankind has with all the information portals that are available to us. The man in the cartoon is juggling five different elements of his life. The cartoon was originally found on a website for a company called "Illumine", which focuses on management and personal skills development training. The article talked about information overload. The audience is everyone who is submerged in the digital revolution; that is, one who has a cell phone, Facebook, e-mail address, Twitter, etc.The main point of this visual is to express the dominance of technology and information in our lives. It is both humorous and realistic. We don't realize how "plugged in" we are until we see cartoons such as this. The visual subverts the traditional American value of family. Four out of the five elements being juggled relate to a person's individual life, whereas only one element (the family portrait) depicts family life.
The cell phone is visually the largest image that the man is juggling. On the opposite side of the frame, the family portrait is the smallest. This sizing technique effectively illustrates the importance of technology and our "need for information", which exceeds that of our family a lot of the time. The technique is very noticeable due to the fact that a cell phone is physically the smallest element in the visual. The use of color is also notable. Each piece of technology and the man are all in black and white. The family photo and the date book are in color. I believe that this technique was used to separate the idea of man and technology from the idea of traditional values (like keeping a calendar of events on paper).
As illustrated by the cartoon, our lives are so full of information. We are constantly connected and plugged in to the outside world. This alienates us quite a bit from our own personal lives (our relationships, friendships, and family). The main point of the graphic is not to influence us against the use of technology, but to understand the difference between moderation and going overboard. When we live our lives in moderation, "juggling" the different aspects of our life will not be so difficult and overwhelming.
When is it time to log off Facebook? When is it time to send that last e-mail? When is it time to turn off your cell phone or computer? We must ask ourselves these questions in order to live a life that is not characterized by information overload.
Information Overload Cartoon
3 comments:
I feel like your blog is stating things that we as users are not aware of. Most people today focus way too much time on the computer whether its from sending emails, tweeting, and facebooking. I feel like this is a very good pictoral dictation.
I really like the cartoon you chose to analyse. I feel that it really demonstrates our reality. It does exaggerate a little but if we really do think about it this is how we balance our life! We wake up in the morning and the first thing we do is check Facebook and emails instead of maybe giving our family a call to see how they are doing. But is is really hard for us to let go of technology since everyday it gets more advanced and tends to be more fun! This cartoon made me reflect over how I am balancing things in my life!Good job!!
Very insightful rhetorical analysis! It really examines the significance of details in the picture. I also like how you conclude the post with statements that relate to the broader themes that the picture is addressing.
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