Social Consequences of New Media

kind Consequences of vernal MediaIdentify the around of import features of untried media and assess how and why sociological theory and concepts deal with these.Abstract This essay prep bees the patronizeground of wise media technologies at bottom the context of their historical phylogenesis. The argument is because addressed towards the largest mixer significations tial out deducts of sweet technologies as by means of and through analysis of the augmentation and facilitation of br impudent(prenominal)ly communities and online interest groupsthe key consequential developments of stark naked media, culminating in the premise that online re positionntial district augmentation is the most crucial in order to deliver the goods affectionate structures for the universe and promotion of other new media effects. This argument is then pose into a frame induce of related divinatory endeavour and elucidates salient arguments in order to establish the premise within co ntemporary academia. The essay closes with a summation of the discussion along with reason comments.The term new media has gained a great deal of currency all over the past two decades. It is in addition worthy of n angiotensin converting enzyme that the term has gained military position as a collective, singular noun form as if it was in recognition to a single, coherent entity. This practice has become increasingly common, not only(prenominal) in marketing circles and journalistic reportage save also in the world of academia. Whilst the term in itself is incredibly vague, the utterance of much(prenominal) increasingly implies solidarity of existence as a totally formed and fully achieved kindly and material practice. Whilst in that location is little truth in this premise, this nature of act continues, and in doing so undermines development of coherent debate.Throughout this paper, the term new media will be applied to the technological practice, development and subseq uent mixer construction of those technologies which crap been borne of internet and digitally associated technologies. In addition to this, it moldiness be pointed out that it would at best be truculent, and at lather benighted, to talk of the consequences of new media in terms of cause and effect this does not do the subject justice nor does it recognise the transience of the situation. It is for these reasons that throughout the argument of this critique the consequences of new media technologies will be catalogued in a historically linear form in order to demonstrate the manner in which such technologies lead to further technological developments, each built upon the concept of the previous. This essay will address the inception of those technologies which have now come to be known as new media and establish them within a historical framework with particular emphasis placed on the development of the World Wide Web. Scholarly endeavour on these subjects is subsequently place d into context of existing examples of new media development, along with their mixer consequences. These arguments argon then consolidated with broader, underpinning theories which argue for the case of corporation augmentation as the primary consequence of new media technologies. The essay then closes with a summary of key points elevated with according conclusions.Current developments in new media technologies back tooth be traced back to the inception of internet technologies and the consequential developments which ensued. When tin can Licklider joined ARPA, Leonard Klienrock was already ontogeny ideas for packet sending. This was a method of sending information in broken up pieces, or packets. The information would be reassembled at the other end. Because the files were broken up before sending, they would be more difficult to eavesdrop, then of great appeal to ARPA. In 1965 an experiment adage computers in Berkley and MIT cerebrate over a low-speed dial-up telephone line, forming the first ever Wide playing field Network (Sadar, 2000).ARPA scientists continued the development of networking protocols and in 1972 TCP/IP was born. This would lead different networks to communicate with each other. Now it was simply a matter of time and growth, as at this stage computers consisted of large mainframes that were not ready(prenominal) to the majority of pot. In 1982, whilst ARPANET was still the backbone of the system, they adopted TCP/IP. This is considered as the birth of the internet an inter democracyal network of computers all using the standard. blowup of the system was also occurring due to advances in computer technology and in 1984 the number of online droves was over 1000. Governments started using and promoting the system for educational purposes and by 1987 there were 10.000 hosts (over the following two years this number had swelled to 100,000) (Baym, 1998).The year 1991 saw the launch of the World Wide Web (WWW) which consisted of a network of searchable and recoverable places that employ the use of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). This protocol automatically searched for the site and retrieved it for automatic viewing. Tim Berners-Lee and other scientists had been developing ideas for making data easily retrievable since 1989 and several browser/editor programs were made shortly after. This formed the rump of what would become new media technology as it is now known (Baym, 1998).An heavy consequence of the pro disembodied spiritration of new media is the digital sort. In economic terms, the digital divide emphasises the gap amidst those with privilege and those without. Those without expect a more moderate admission to the means of information distri barelyion that new media has come to be synonymous with internet access, email, smartphones, etc. The consequences of this are broad reaching since they can affect passel not just on their individual access to digital information services but also by geographic location or by their access to friendly entities such as businesses, educational services and public services. This gap also exists between nation states and is known on an inter depicted object scale as the global digital divide (Halford Savage, 2010).The historically recent rise in new media has also prompted an interest in the faculty member study of mobilities an area of the social sciences which was oecumenicly disregarded until the phenomenon. The turn in attitude is due generally, if not wholly, to the ubiquitousness of locative media and mobile communications in increasingly novel forms (Urry, 2000). These new technologies are augmenting and supplementing the manner in which members of society communicate with one another, and thence their locations, on the move. Such ICTs ( education and Communications Technologies) are increasing in ubiquity, as increasing numbers of people begin to cable carry smart technologies with them, and insurrection numbers o f architectural structures and public borders are becoming embedded with antiphonal entities which can relay pertinent information. Transport structures, public service buildings, architecture of interest, etc. are becoming increasingly embedded with satellite connectivity, GPS, reactive software, sensors and other interactive data transfer forms (Urry, 2004).It is uncontroversial to argue that the most important and far-reaching consequence of new media is the emergenced ability for social and corporation forming the world has witnessed a massive rise in online groups and communities. For many an(prenominal) people it is now possible to be part of multiple online groups simultaneously.Much of the general debate around the value of the virtual communitiesdebate which surrounds new media also highlights the increase in digital theatrical performance and through subcultures. From the early days of online chatrooms and social portals which existed entirely in textual form, the d evelopment into widespread social media has brought with it a sharp rise in both the globalisation of culture and digital representation of the self through online platforms. Debate on such representation has become which have developed from new media technologies has become polarised in academic debateia. On the one hand is the groupA strong argument in pro found endeavour which argues maintains that the internet has created a new platform for with which to resurrect tralatitious notions of friendship (perceived as fading in real life) which could be perceived as diminishing in modern culture this and is a positive step towards achieving a new global solidarity, particularly with the con accepted development of cultural globalisation. The opposition to this school of thought maintain that cyberspace detracts attention from the issues faced in real life community and is thusly erodes it. This point of view is eloquently allegorised in the opening page of jean Baudrillards Sim ulations (1983). Baudrillard paraphrases the Jorge Luis Borges tale of cartographers who create a map of the empire to such detail that it perfectly covers the land it represents. Whilst the map is celebrated the land underneath it declines into wasteland. This is only brought to the attention of the people when the map itself erodes, revealing an uninhabitable leave of the real (Baudrillard, 1983).It is uncontroversial to argue that the most important and far-reaching social consequence of new media is the increase ability for the formation of communities which were previously unavailable. These community groups are salient and consistent throughout the development of new media technology and additionally it is now possible for many to be part of multiple societal groups simultaneously. Such communities are so influential because they underpin and promulgate the existence of other key elements of new media technology development, such as social change, cultural globalisation, di gital identity, the mobilisation of smart technologies, etc.Theorists Wellman and Gulia argue that the current debate on virtual communities is problematic for several reasons. They state that the polarisation of opinion makes the debate Manichean, and also that a sensory faculty of the history of community is absent. In addition to this, they contend that the debate on virtual communities is largely unscholarly and is parochial in the sense that it forces a divide between real life communities and those online. They go on to say that the notion of a traditional community is nostalgic and saturated with myth (Wellman Gulia, 1999). Whilst Wellman Gulia make many fair points, certain(prenominal)ly the polarisation of the online debate (and also the separation of online life and real-life in theory) the two extremes of opinion have produced a substantial touchstone of research on the matter.When defining community it is useful to look at the work of German sociologist Ferdinand T onnies, who developed the terms Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. Gemeinschaft (translated roughly as community) is described by Tonnies as traditional community, characterised by bonding through kinship, friendship, shared religious beliefs and community loyalty. Tonnies termed modern, capitalist societies as Gesellschaft (community, or association), where social fundamental interactions and relationships are much less personal, more calculated and contr demonstrable, where the society experiences increased isolation of individuals living within it (Tonnies, 1988).There is also important work regarding broader communities, in particular Benedict Andersons theories concerning nations, or as he terms imagined communities (Anderson, 1983). Since the members of a nation cannot possibly interact with (or have experience of) everyone within that nation, certain symbolic resources and rituals (or as Anderson refers invented traditions) are employ to shuffle people and create a sense of s hared identity (flags, national anthems, etc.). Anderson maintains that these types of communities depend on their members believing in them, and are maintained through the shared practice of cultural customs and devices (Anderson, 1983).These Current definitions of digital community, whilst useful, suffer the same drawbacks as most in that they can be interpreted to extremes within their own boundaries, and do little to draw the line as to how far to go. A useful analogy is presented by David bell (2001), who asks I drive a car. To what extent could I argue that I drop dead to a community of car drivers?. Bell goes on to explain that his car madcap community satisfies all aspects of popular community definitions. Identity as a car driver is institutionalised by a driving licence, which not only provides certain privileges but also acts as a proof of identity in a broader sense, and this is a commonality with other car drivers. Bell continues to describe a set of knowledges which all car drivers possess (of driving, of the road, etc.), some of them formalised and some tacit. Whilst the Highway Code formalises one strand of such knowledge there also exists a tacit understanding in the form of driving etiquette and the like. The final point Bell makes is that of facilitation. The car also facilitates his membership of off-road communities (Bell, 2001).Whether or not Bells example does pander a definition of community is still debatable, but it does raise some important points when trying to define community, especially when analyse or contrasting to those which exist online. The same terms of Bells analogy could just as simply be applied to MySpace or EBay, both of which have had a far-reaching and consequential impact on capitalist societies MySpace in many ways became the prototype of digital self-representation, with its ability for photographic and thematic customisation, coupled with a platform for creative endeavour or the broadcast of opinions. This paved the way for a broad range of online social media platforms which developed or augmented the original MySpace model. Conversely, EBay provided a platform for duty which laid down an archetype for online trading. The eBay model for the first time allowed people to generate income through private auctioning on a global scale, in many cases providing entire businesses to operate solely within the confines of the site. careless(predicate) of their achieved scope and proliferation of use, but would the question remainsthat mean regarding whether or not that these created communities satisfy a Gemeinschaft definition of community, and even if they did this would not necessarily make them communities in the nostalgic sense. , would that make them a community in the nostalgic sense? Bell explores this matter by offering a distinction between the terms (sometimes apply synonymously by critical theorists) community and sub-cultureunderstandably theres a slippage between the two word s, both interpreted to mean the same thing Bayms own work has used both to describe the same group of online soap fans, for example. But I think that the two words have very different connotations, so I started to wonder where the boundary between terms like these lies. (Bell, 2001101)In this statement Bell makes a valid point. In the labelling of factions and groups as communities more often than not the term either becomes encapsulate, including a whole host of assemblies which are perhaps better described in another category, or becomes exclusive to the point of rejection of all those groups which fail to satisfy the nostalgic and patently outdated notion of traditional community.With these comments in mind it seemsIt is important to establish a boundary by which to sector those groups which, although they may satisfy certain aspects of community new technology consequences, are not engaged in sufficient humanistic interaction to be defined as such. This does not present an imm ediate problem as there are many online groups which fit this description and do not label themselves as communities, but remain consequential of new media. However, the emphasis on human interaction seems to be the key to which distinctions can be drawn between online organisations and actual communities. One notorious commentator on the subject, Howard Rheingold, states just thatvirtual(prenominal) communities are social aggregations that emerge from the net when enough people carry onpublic discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace. (Rheingold, 199312)Since traditional community is no longer possible in its concentrated form, due predominantly to capitalism and globalisation, people have searched out the areas of their community which they now lack. Humans , being social animals (and at best, survivalists) have utilised the internetnew media in tandem with the development of technology to maintain and keep figur e of the things which they inherently hold dear. In this case, the elements of community which contemporary society have consequentially eroded with new media are also supported by new media. These consequences are now are now to be found online in forums, groups and interactive spaces. in the altogether media technology The internet does not put up communities, but symbiotically supports those areas of community which no longer exist extraneous of the webof such developments, and arguably, due to such developments. Online platforms such as MySpace or Facebook provide many services, but do not create a social network for its users. Rather, new media they allow users to supplement their existing social networks with online support. furthermore online Interactions can take place which will allow families who are miles asunder to keep in touch in ways that have previously been impossible, thus they are solving previous difficulties pertaining to traditional community, predominantl y that of withdrawnness and (the resulting factor of) time, and strengthening these communities in ways that previously could not be achieved. It is now possible for community to become reinforced by new media technologies in ways that were previously impossible, thus strengthening the weak elements that existed in the Gemeinschaft-style structure. Utilising technology, traditional communities are able to function over distance in real-time, in cybernetic unison.ReferencesAnderson, B. (1983) Imagined Communities reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism, capital of the United Kingdom Verso.Baudrillard, J. 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