Media Magazine reading
Media Magazine 55 has an overview of technology journalist Bill Thompson’s conference presentation on ‘What has the internet ever done for me?’ It’s an excellent summary of the internet’s brief history and its impact on society. Go to our Media Magazine archive, click on MM55 and scroll to page 13 to read the article ‘What has the internet ever done for me?’ Answer the following questions:
1) Looking over the article as a whole, what are some of the positive developments due to the internet highlighted by Bill Thompson?
"we could email and exchange files with people at other universities."
"I realised that we had access to a way to talk to hundreds of thousands of other computer users around the world."
"The network connects us to other people,it provides a great source of information, it can be used for campaigning and political action, to draw attention to abuses and fight for human rights."
"It’s a great place for gaming and education, which can also be used to make a lot of money (for a few people) as well as a place where you can meet your friends."
2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet?
"The network doesn’t care what the data means or how it is used"
"also makes it next to impossible to stop spam, abuse or the trading of images of child abuse."
"fraud, scams, ripoffs and malicious software are everywhere. Then there’s the dark web"
3) What does ‘open technology’ refer to? Do you agree with the idea of ‘open technology’?
The idea of ‘openness’ lies at the center of this debate: I believe that if we want an
open society based around principles of equality of opportunity, social justice and free
expression, we need to build it on technologies which are themselves ‘open’, and that this is the only way to encourage a diverse online culture that allows all voices to be heard.
I somewhat agree with open technology because of the freedom and flexibility it gives us, however I also believe it comes with its downsides such as; exchanging of data between two when the network itself is unaware, which can be used for the wrong reasons.
4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?
"The idea of ‘openness’ lies at the centre of this debate: I believe that if we want an
open society based around principles of equality of opportunity, social justice and free
expression, we need to build it on technologies which are themselves ‘open’, and that this is the only way to encourage a diverse online culture that allows all voices to be heard."
5) Where do you stand on the use and regulation of the internet? Should there be more control or more openness? Why?
Clay Shirky: Here Comes Everybody
Clay Shirky’s book Here Comes Everybody charts the way social media and connectivity is changing the world. Read Chapter 3 of his book, ‘Everyone is a media outlet’, and answer the following questions:
1) How does Shirky define a ‘profession’ and why does it apply to the traditional newspaper industry?
A profession exists to solve a hard problem, one that re-
quires some sort of specialization. Driving a race car requires
special training-race car drivers are professionals. Journalists are specifically trained/educated to write newspapers and report etc.
2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”?
The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from "Why publish this ?" to "Why not?"
3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news?
Because Trent Lott is a politician in America who had some controversial views.4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?
A big increase in self-published content on the internet.5) Shirky suggests that: “The same idea, published in dozens or hundreds of places, can have an amplifying effect that outweighs the verdict from the smaller number of professional outlets.” How can this be linked to the current media landscape and particularly ‘fake news’?
When the same idea is published over and over again it becomes a lot harder to spot fake news as the lines become blurred.6) What does Shirky suggest about the social effects of technological change? Does this mean we are currently in the midst of the internet “revolution” or “chaos” Shirky mentions?
Shirky suggests "social effects lag behind technological ones by decades"
"go through long periods of chaos in order for us to reach a revolution" suggests that we go through revolution.
7) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important?
This means that anyone with access to the internet can publish their thoughts and opinions and can talk about their experiences.
8) What does Shirky suggest regarding the hundred years following the printing press revolution? Is there any evidence of this “intellectual and political chaos” in recent global events following the internet revolution?
Shirky says that after the printing press, some traditional jobs that became popular before the printing press became outdated, so anxiety came from individuals who worked in those employment because they feared their future, the same can be said about how newspapers and magazines responded to the web, e.g. over-exaggeration and web demonization.
9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?
Because anyone is able to take a picture and post it somewhere as cameras are virtually everywhere. Everyone has a phone.
10) What do you think of Shirky’s ideas on the ‘End of audience’? Is this era of ‘mass amateurisation’ a positive thing? Or are we in a period of “intellectual and political chaos” where things are more broken than fixed?
I agree with shirky as everyone seems to want to produce and become creators. However I do not view this as a bad thing as we can get different artistic interpretations and I myself am one of these creators.
