Internet and networked societyJonathan Lee and Stephen Wildsmith

PEOPLE

+ THINGS

+ INTERACTIVITY

+ BIG IDEAS

= NETWORKED SOCIETY

Wellman B (2002) Designing the internet for a networked society communications of the acm vol.45 no. 5, pp91-96

- Shift from relationships being hierarchical, homogenous, dense and bounded

- Becoming so physically dispersed, that individuals within them do not know one another first hand.

- Networked societies are affected by social, political, cultural and economic changes caused by the spread of social networks, digital information and communication technologies

Communication among networked societies

- Bought concerns that face-to-face conversation would be outdated

- However, it has encouraged communication and the introduction and utilization of networked societies

- “As email use increases, in-person, telephone and postal contact with others neither decreases not increases”

- Friends used email most with each other to communicate (118 days a year), distant friends (85),distant family (72) and close family (52)

- In 2002, when Wellman wrote the article, the telephone was the most frequently used system of communication.

- “In the past you adapted to the network. In the future, social networks adapt to you”

Communication, Power and Counter-power in the Network SocietyManuel Castells

Hypotheses• Argues:• “the media have become the social space where power is

decided”

• “rise of a new form of communication, mass self-communication”

• “As a result of these processes, mass media and horizontal

communication networks are converging.”

Power and Communication• Power and communication (through media) are now closely

linked

•Political Battle for public support is now fought through communication media

•Power Relations are shaped through communication media

Media & personality politics

• Politics is now about image projection• Goal is to create a trust worthy message and persona

(Obama weekly address)

• Scandal politics is formed as people compete with political legitimacy (Romney and dog)

Mass Self-communication & Counter power• Free and accessible social media and blogs are forms of Mass

Self-communication

• Communicate to the masses about one self

• Acts as a medium for Counter power to establish where the

public actively challenge views on virtual forums

The Grand Convergence• “Societies exist as societies by constructing a public space in

which private interests and projects can be negotiated to reach an always unstable point of shared decision making toward a common good, within a historically given social boundary”

• Power and mass media now work closer than ever

• Where political candidates and business competitors stalk each other virtually and the public question what is said on a more varied connected, visual, audio and text medium

Hypotheses (again)• Argues:• “the media have become the social space where power is

decided”

• “rise of a new form of communication, mass self-communication”

• “As a result of these processes, mass media and horizontal

communication networks are converging.”

References

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Pxenw7UFA

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/market-data/communications-market-reports/cmr12/market-context/UK-1.15

Wellman, B (2002) ‘Designing the internet for a networked society’, Communications of the ACM vol.45 no. 5, pp91-96

References

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW0YCOAygCc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j3QRmc7fKw

Manuel Castells (2007) Communication, Power and Counter-power in the Network Society. International Journal of Communication 1 (2007), 238-266