new media
and networks
technology - society
- which is the primarily defining factor of this relation?
- what are the effects of technology in human life?
- what kind of problems does technology face, and what kind
of answers offers?
- how do people use technology?
- will finally human beings become slaves of the machines?
approaches
technological determinism: the technology is the dominant,
determining factor in the process
social / cultural determinism: the emergence of a
technology is determined by a wide set of socio-cultural
factors
… and the interplay
conceiving the technological and the social / cultural as
mutually defining factors
employing human and non humans, things and concepts
• new media
the question: why some media are considered to be ‘new’
- latest developments in media technologies?
- latest version of long-established commodities?
… we need to address the contexts of their use and their
social and cultural impact
-
reloaded …
‘there is a need to ask what’s new for society about new
media’ (Livingstone, 1999)
how technologies can act as factors in wider social change
… yet at the same time be already embedded in a social
context
the parameters …
combination of three Cs:
- computing and information technology (IT)
- convergence
- communication networks
convergence
… of media and information content:
- digital forms of media content that combine and
integrate data, text, sound and images of all kinds
- stored in digitized formats
- distributed through networks
- digitization
the representation of an object, image, sound, document
or a signal by a discrete set of its points or samples –
data are reduced to a series of digits (1 for on, 0 for off)
all texts (symbolic meaning in all encoded and recorded
forms) can share the same process of production,
distribution and storage
- compression
squeezing data to increase storage and transmission capacity
it is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than
an un-encoded representation would use
compression is useful because it helps reduce the
consumption of expensive resources, such as hard disc space
or transmission bandwidth
- miniaturization
reducing size of devices for data recording, storage
it is the creation of ever-smaller scales for mechanical,
optical, and electronic products and devices, due to the
desire for size effeciency
it is a continuing trend in the production of such devices
internet
refering to a technical infrastructure of computers and other
digital devices (servers, routers, etc.), connected through
high-speed telecommunication networks
… and to the forms of content, communication, and
information sharing that occur through these networks
… social implications
the electronic network of networks:
links people and information through computers and other
digital devices
allowing person-to-person communication and information
retrieval
the web
1989, Tim Berners-Lee created a system that could put
information in interface with all other information
World Wide Web is emerging as a major mass medium
it operates on a global Internet where its messages move on; it
is more flexible than other media
features
it allowed for the display of colorful pictures, music and audio
as well as data and text, introducing multimedia capability to
the internet
it was based on hypertext principles; allows for the linking of
information – links from one information source provide
simple point-and-click access to related information available
from other sources
change
a wide range of people could become consumers as well as
producers of content on the World Wide Web
the internet has thus become the fastest growing medium
ever recorded
towards another type of society
… ‘post-industrial society’ (Bell, 1973)
the production and distribution of information of all
kinds, especially using computer-based technology, has
itself become a major sector of the economy
new class emerging based on the possession of knowledge
and personal relational skills
… information society
- predominance of information work
- great volume of information flow
- interactivity of relations
- integration and convergence of activities
- growth and interaction of networks
- globalization tendencies
- postmodern culture
• network society
a form of society increasingly organizing its relationships in
media networks
… gradually complementing or replacing the social
networks of face to face communication
numerous overlapping circles of communication that can
have both a vertical and horizontal range
network(ing)
centrality of networks and networking to new media
- the internet is itself a technical network, a global ‘network
of networks’
… matrix structure
… all senders and receivers are interconnected
… distribution of messages as a series of packets
…
social networks, emphasizing the interdependent and
relational nature of links between people and institutions
… managing resource flows
… providing opportunities
… maintaining durable forms of social infrastructure
…
socio-technical networks, the new social morphology,
structure, of our society
… a global informational economy
… networks become the dominant mode of social
organization
… central driver of processes of globalization, of media use
and identity formation
… ex.
network campaigns (by social movements) allow diverse
groups/individuals to participate through commitment to a
shared purpose, while remaining autonomous individual agents
- being structure-light
- mobilizing diverse skills and resources
- diversity and openness
- high level of media visibility
- ability to act cheaply and quickly
Castell’s theory
‘The Information Age’ (three-volume work):
a network society has emerged in the late 20th and early
21st century
it is both cause and consequence of the shift from an
industrial to an informational mode of development
-
… the shift
‘in the industrial mode of development, the main source of
productivity lies in the introduction of new energy
sources
… in the new, information mode of development, the
source of productivity lies in the technology of knowledge
generation, information processing, and symbol
communication
5 central elements
… of this new informational mode of development
- information becomes the raw material of economic activity
(both the input and output of new technologies)
- new ICTs have pervasive effects through all realms of human
social activity
…
- the logic of networking applies to all social processes and
organizational forms
- processes, structures and institutional forms need to be
flexible (to be able to alter)
- growing convergence of specific technologies into a highly
integrated system
a new economy
- informational: the capacity of generating knowledge and
processing/managing information determine the productivity
and competitiveness of all economic units (firms, regions,
countries)
- global: strategic activities have the capacity to work as a unit
on a planetary scale in real time or chosen time
- networked: internet-based, interactive, networked
connection between producers, consumers and service
providers
criticism
- overestimates the transformative impact of new media
technologies on everyday life (culture as lived experience)
- and, underestimates the extent to which new media are
incorporated into an already existing repertoire of sociocultural activities and relationships
*
notes from the books:
- Castells, M. (2000) The Rise of the Network Society:The Information Age: Economy, Society
and Culture Vol. 1 (2nd edition). Wiley-Blackwell
- Castells, M. (2001) The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business and Society.
Oxford University Press
- Flew, T. (2008) New Media: an Introduction, 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University
Press
- Terranova, T. (2004) Network Culture: Politics for the Information Age. London: Pluto.
- van Dijk, J. (2010) The Network Society, 2nd edition. London: Sage
thank you
for your attention
workshop
work in groups and evaluate the extent to which new media
practices have an ‘impact’ on your socio-cultural activities
and relationships