Category Archives: Media

Media in the Networked Society – Week 4 – The Information Society

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For our fourth week of Media in the Networked Society we focused on the information society; which I have since learnt refers to a new society which centers around the creation, use, distribution, integration and manipulation of information and its importance with political, economic and cultural activities.

We looked at Webster’s ‘Theories of the Information Society’ and his critiques and understanding of what many call ‘the information society’. He looks at five definitions of the information society:

Webster states that there been “an enormous quantitative increase in information technologies, in information in circulation, in information networks and what not”. He explores the fact that people should not shy away from the information society and that it has many purposes that can be used by multiple groups for a range of resources. This has made me aware that the information society is something we are all a part of and contribute and is something that will grow and develop with the changing times.

Bibliography;

Webster, F (2014), Theories of the Information Society London: Routledge, 4th  edition.

Media in the Networked Society – Week 3 – New media technologies and social change

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In this week’s lecture and seminar, we examined the relationship between the media, technologies and social change. The substantial development in technology and the way people use it has provided and assisted in social change throughout the generations.The way media is used and received has helped shape the way these technologies are used and has been a large impact on the growth of specific technologies. We had three readings, however I didn’t feel like I understood/engaged fully with any of them.

“Kay and Goldberg themselves make the point somewhat more directly when they write that ‘the computer, viewed as a medium itself, can be all other media’.” (Lister, M, Dovey, J, Giddings, S, Grant, I and Kelly, K 2009; 57) This quote refers to the acknowledgement that the computer was becoming a medium that would host everything from television to the news. One piece of technology has been gradually developed to provide the consumers with the simplest and most efficient way to do things.

In our seminar session, we participated in two activities. The first activity was to name all of the apps we had used that morning. From banking to shopping to socialising, we had managed all of that from a single device, either that be our phones or our computers.

Our second activity was a debate focusing on whether or not the internet had extended democracy by enabling participation, access to information and expression for all. Both sides first discussed their ideas and constructed key arguments for the debate. Arguments were then presented to the opposing team who then produced a counter-argument. To conclude, it was established that there were more arguments addressing the fact internet has extended democracy. This was due to the internet producing a place where communities and like-minded individuals could come together, share opinions and views and reach others through multiple ways such as movements, petitions and the fact that access most sites on the internet is free.

Bibliography:

Lister, M, Dovey, J, Giddings, S, Grant, I and Kelly, K (2009) New Media. A critical introduction. Second Edition Routledge (pp. 44-52; 78-79).