When reflecting on Chapter 1 this week I have been thinking about how information devices (and services) are affecting societies, particularly in light of the knowledge that access can vary between different groups within the society.
The difference has been observed between racial groups as well as groups with different physical abilities. It is also easy to imagine large differences centered on economic or even ideological reasons. Obviously the nation’s homeless or Amish have a comparatively low presence on the internet.
In the past, devices have been able to bridge vast gaps. Television, for example, undoubtedly helped to create and continues to strengthen a national identity with the same entertainment and news broadcast to the entire country. Clearly, people without televisions would experience a certain degree of isolation.
The technology of information devices has now created a new situation that may have an even more profound effect on American society and it operates in almost the exact opposite way.
The internet has made it possible for people to receive extremely tailored and customized entertainment and news. People are increasingly receiving different sets of information and different versions of the same information.
If you have spent any time at all on the internet you have likely seen highly specific and homogenous societies emerging all over. This is a new example of how disparities (not in access but in use) created by information devices can affect societies.
2 comments:
Shawn,
I enjoyed reading your blog very much, it was obviously well thought out, and I do agree with what you had to say about National identity and the presence of particular groups in the ether and the obvious absence of others. However, I would also have to say that I thought you might be implying that the internet is narrow and androgynous, there are definitely internet societies that include members from all over the globe that share similar beliefs or have likened interests, but I don’t believe that just because there’s an online gaming spate or a site of Jane Austen quotes, that it’s taking over society en masse!
Everyone knows what they like, and makes a choice if they want to stay on that page and learn more, or move on to the next search engine! Information can’t be stagnant.
Disclaimer: Don’t take this personally; we’re dealing with the issue of not sitting in front of one another, so if I misunderstood your meaning please feel free to correct me.
LJ
Interesting point Shawn - I love the observation that various segments of the population are not represented on the Internet. The Amish would most definitely not be users of technology. It would be an interesting study to determine how groups are formed on the Internet, and I would suspect that common interests are what draw most people together.
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