Internet Continued April 8 2014 Internet World Wide Web www Trends o Remember the internet is not an industry like other subjects we have discussed the television industry the radio industry No one group owns it and millions of people and companies have stock in it o New technology utopian vs dystopian perspectives When new technology here the internet is talked about it is often referred to in one of two broad ways Utopian or dystopian the utopian perspective has to do with how society will benefit from new technology and be better off while the dystopian perspective has to do with how new technology will negatively affect society and bring adverse consequences Utopian perspective McLuhan and his global village o McLuhan wrote that new technology might permit people to become increasingly involved with one another rather than separating them or being a negative force in society He was not specifically referring to the Internet just new technologies in general He postulated that something like a television show that everyone around the United States could watch would allow people to connect more easily with one another and have things in common This possibility of connection of people coming closer together would create a thing that McLuhan called the global village many people around the world could identify with each other as if they lived in a small village with many similarities o McLuhan wrote these ideas in the 1960s but they fell out of favor in the 1970s when television did not seem to have brought people together that much However in the 1990s when the Internet was introduced people went back and reinterpreted McLuhan s writings and realized that they might apply very well to Internet technology Utopian perspective virtual democracy o People would be able to be able to easily connect with politicians their senators representatives even the president People would be able to discuss political ideas online with a variety of other citizens They might be able to watch town hall meetings and debates online maybe even vote online one day Democracy could become more easily accessible to everyone o This has happened to some extent politicians websites and Twitter accounts President Obama s weekly YouTube addresses But we cannot say for sure that new technologies have increased levels of democracy Utopian perspective access to information o People would be able to obtain knowledge and facts that they had not been able to access easily before o Could use Internet as opposed to encyclopedias out dated information o If we subscribe to the maxim that information equals power this has a huge impact on people s abilities Dystopian perspective issues with access digital divide o Not everyone has equal access to technologies the Internet computers smart phones broadband access in the home etc Those who have less money are of certain racial ethnic backgrounds live in more rural areas do not have the ability to obtain these new technologies as easily as others do o Hispanics older people people with less education people who make less money people who live in rural areas even people with disabilities have less ease of access to technology o Technology gap If accessing the Internet has become a vital part to living in our society then those who do not have easy access to this information are not a full part of our society This technology gap has led to an information knowledge gap people have less information less access to knowledge Those who have less access to technology have less of an understanding of what is currently happening in society o These issues with the digital divide between those who have access to technology information and those who don t doesn t unite members of society but rather separates them drives them apart Dystopian perspective 1st Amendment issues o Citizen journalists as a fourth estate Instead of relying on media outlets normal citizens can provide their own information their own checks on power This might sound like a utopian perspective idea BUT is all information that people provide true How credible are common people In an age where everyone can be a journalist online do we believe what everyone contributes or not believe anything that has been contributed What if someone just makes something up How do we know which blogs even which major media outlets with their new platforms online are correct o Freedom of expression New technology has aided our ability to express our opinions ideas on a much more global level This might sound like a utopian perspective idea BUT what about hate speech which has also become more easily accessible and prevalent We have seen a rise in cyber bullying the use of social media to belittle other people There has been an increase in groups like the KKK and NeoNazis in Europe being able to connect with each other and back each other s ideas What about the increase in the distribution of child pornography or preventing people who shouldn t be seeing pornography from seeing it i e children o User generated content Singers like Justin Bieber good athletes who need scholarships people who are good at other things have been discovered through user generated videos posts photos online This can be great for them BUT what about happy slapping This is the idea of doing something some people might think funny violence crimes in order to post in online and try to become well known and popular While some might find this amusing though it can be very harmful and offensive to others For example a few years ago a gang of boys in Britain went around and filmed themselves beating up random bystanders for fun to try to go viral when they posted these videos They meant for it to be violently funny like Jackass but some of their victims ended up dying o Internet Privacy issues Privacy of communication Is e mail private o Yes except if you re using a state supported communication tool For example if you send e mails using FSU s e mail server by law in the state of Florida your e mails would have to be released for someone who asked for them If you connect to the Internet using FSU s network they have the right to track everything you do Are social media sites private o Facebook changes its privacy rules all the time and unless you re reading all the writing when you have to click a box to confirm that you acknowledge changes you will have no idea what really is private or not o Social media is private to the extent that you make it private in regards
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