Carl Nettleton
Comm 421-75
2/17/2016
Quiz 1
1.
The power associated with environmental variables is conceptualized by the authors of
The Social Life of Information in three contexts: physical, social, and work. Through the course
of the book, the authors attempt to show the interaction between them, and endeavor to show
their significance in an information-laden society.
The primary status of environment that the authors conceptualize is that which is
physical. Physical environment is simply defined as one’s whereabouts; the world that is
physically at hand. The attributes of a physical environment are infinite, and include the
emotional and physical reactions the surroundings. This definition is the underlying theme for all
three types of environment that the authors discuss. In the context of the primary status, physical
environment can affect the way that humans interface with the technology that abounds in that
place. For instance, a cramped environment would call for the latest equipment that saves space
due to the correlation between technological advances, and their decreased mass. The attributes
of this environment are almost exclusively tangible, and can be manipulated to a degree that the
others cannot.
Whereas the physical environment is a tangible thread that runs throughout, both social
and work environments are more temporal, and consist of emotional evaluation of one’s
surroundings. For example, a social environment consists of one’s interactions with other people,
and how well you can be assimilated into another’s social circle. Furthermore, social
environment carries with it a more in depth and personal implication than any physical
environment would. Although you can have bad feelings about a room that is poorly designed, or
you might have a fear of the house you grew up in, it is more likely that your feelings would be
hurt by the shunning of a would-be friend.
Carl Nettleton
Comm 421-75
2/17/2016
Work environments are very much related to social environments, in that a social
underpinning often coexists with the work being done. In order for one to be successful, and
complete one’s work with the most desirable results, the authors argue that the social element
must be alive and thriving alongside the work being done. It is with the conversations that take
place between superiors and trainees that the real learning takes place, not simply placing the
trainee in front of a procedural diagram and putting them to work. In fact, the authors argue that
a work environment encouraging conspiracy amongst its workers will gain greater success
through this peer learning than would ever be lost during the much-maligned “coffee break.”
The authors’ stance regarding the impact of environment on their thesis becomes quite
clear when it is placed in the vein of appropriateness. The environment a person is in will dictate
the type, duration, vocabulary, even the topic of that conversation. There can and will be overlap
in these areas, but the concept remains the same: although “environment” brings to mind a
physical place, the mindset of “environment” is more about the exchange of information, and
how that is affected by location.
2.
During the course of an upper-level college class called “Communication Technology,”
the class was required to read a book called The Social Life of Information. Through reading this
book I am beginning to find a deeper understanding of communication’s recent explosion, and
how wide its scope has come to be.
In the beginning (of the book), things moved pretty slow; the authors were laying a
groundwork for where they intended to go, and what conclusions they intended to draw.
Understandably, the panorama of communication is too vast to cover all in 240 pages. As you
move forward into the meat of the book, you may find, as I did, how applicable some of the
Carl Nettleton
Comm 421-75
2/17/2016
concepts the authors emphasize and criticize are to your life. As an example, I cannot remember
the last time I actually physically went into the library to find an article I was researching; I find
it a waste of time, especially with all of the electronic resources that abound on a broadband
Internet connection at home. Furthermore, their narrative on info-bots is quite pertinent to
everyday existence, through the reception of “spam” email, and those darn automated opinion
surveys received during the months preceding a major election. Also, overwhelming growth of
paper use during the evolution of our electronic society, and how everything “official” or
needing to be “saved” must be in hardcopy format. With every turn of the page, I continued to
find examples in my personal experience.
Besides being able to identify examples of the authors’ points in my own experience,
they found ways of illustrating and relating associations between “life” and “life with
technology.” Since “life with technology” is all that my generation knows, it is very important
for me and my peers to realize that life before the Internet functioned at much the same level of
"information dissemination" as the modern world does now. The real exception is in the parts of
the world that now have access to educations from miles away.
I strongly recommend this book to you, as I have already recommended it to my father,
who is highly critical of authors and their works, and I knew he would enjoy this compilation of
essays evaluating the role of information and communication on our society. Although written on
a very intellectual slant, I found it easily accessible.
3.
The Social Life of Information covers some essential issues, including education, process
vs. practice, newspapers, agents and telecommuting. These issues are covered quite eloquently
by the authors in such a way as to foster a greater respect for the art of communication.
Carl Nettleton
Comm 421-75
2/17/2016
On the topic of education, the authors assert that the age of the Internet has given to the
rise of e-degrees and virtual classrooms, and that this trend might be a misuse of the technology,
and a threat to the traditional schooling that is heretofore considered to be more valuable.
Similar to education, the authors have a definite view on process vs. practice, and many
examples to support their stance. Mainly, they see process and practice as mutually exclusive.
Using the example of Xerox technicians fighting the corporate ideal of how they should go about
fixing the equipment in their charge, and how the corporate entity sees the extraneous
conversation and peer learning as a waste of resources, the authors’ point is clear: not always is
the practice of problem-solving the same as the prescribed solution.
With regard to newspapers, the authors’ ideal came with the advent of the “personalized
headlines” concept of the Internet. The authors’ assert that we as human beings don’t always
know what information we’re looking for when we find something that catches our interest, or
that pertains to us. Their claim is that so much goes into the production of a newspaper that
would be completely lost over an electronic representation of said paper; things such as texture
of the paper (giving us clues as to whether it’s magazine stock or paper stock), placement of
information on the page (be it above or below the fold, and where split-up articles are continues
from their origin), and the type of information the paper considered front-page material, all factor
into the newspaper experience.
In an electronic mindset, the authors’ stance on agents and their role in communication
were for and against. Although the authors viewed the agents of information to be beneficial in
that they will search out pertinent information for us, they are also spying on us so as to force
certain products and “services” in front of our faces. Therefore, they equated them to being
“angels,” as well as the opposite.
Carl Nettleton
Comm 421-75
2/17/2016
Finally, the authors of The Social Life…gave a holistic view of information’s evolution,
and what defining moments it claims. From the telephone being initially rejected in favor of the
slower and less versatile telegraph, to Xerox surrendering some of today’s technological marvels
to Apple because they failed to see their importance, telecommunication has had peaks and
valleys along the way, but has brought us up to the present with so many prospects of furthering
itself having yet to be discovered. They authors don’t simply stand there and marvel at where we
are, but they have gone back and taken a critical look at the major events with the intentions of
showing that it was the information that molded the medium to its liking, in so much as the
people involved needed to time their technological breakthrough so that there was a place in
which it would be useful.
In summation, the gist of the book is marvelously stated on the back cover: “Should be
read by anyone interested in understanding the future.” In order to build the future in a way that
is stable and conducive to further building, we must understand the present, and how we got to it
in such a manner as we have. So these authors have laid out the puzzle, in a good resemblance of
its entirety, so that we might build upon it.