Monthly Archives: February 2018

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).

 

Media in the Networked Society – Week 2 – Digital convergence, interactivity, networkability and the digital human

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For the second week of the Media in the Networked Society, we looked at digital convergence, interactivity, network-ability and the digital human. We look at the different media forms and how they were recorded, stored and transmitted in multiple different networks and infrastructure.

We looked into analogue and its limitations from when it first began and when it consisted of telephone, radio and television. Progressing from that, we moved onto how the development of digitisation has helped with the limitations of analogue. From something that had capacity limitations, passives audiences and its mass media content produced only by professionals to having an increase in functionality, high speeds and encouraged people access more materials.

When referring to our first key reading ‘Social transformation in an Information Society Rethinking Access to You and the World’, Dutton states that ‘rapid innovation in ICTs has offered ever faster and more versatile access to ever more information…’. Relating back to the development of digitisation, information has become easier to transfer and share throughout multiple platforms across multiple mediums. The audience tends to be a active member in this transaction of information as they now can seek out and obtain information specific to them.

To relate back to our seminar, we then looked at whether, in this day and age, someone could ever be offline; which after a quick discussion, was hard to come to one conclusion. Although you may not be ‘actively’ online at specific time, your online profile may be active, and sharing information. This showed how the progression in digitisation may have opened up many possibilities, it has also created a lack of privacy.

Bibliography

Dutton W. (2004). Social Transformation in an Information Society Rethinking Access to You and the World. UNESCO..pdf . UNESCO. URL(pp. 29)