Media and Culture Chapter 2 Lectureslide PDF

CHAPTER 2 The Internet and Digital Media The Internet Today Internet: vast network of fiber-optic lines, wireless connections, and satellite systems that links digital devices to enormous data centers around the world Rates of Internet access are highest in places like Europe, N...

CHAPTER 2 The Internet and Digital Media The Internet Today Internet: vast network of fiber-optic lines, wireless connections, and satellite systems that links digital devices to enormous data centers around the world Rates of Internet access are highest in places like Europe, North America, and South Korea; rates in Africa, other parts of Asia, and the Middle East are rising more rapidly The Internet and digital communication competed with and absorbed previous technologies and industries Traditional industries (film, television, radio) also went digital How We Got Here: The Development of the Internet (1 of 5) ARPAnet: created by U.S. Department of Defense to enable researchers to pool computing power Protocols allowed supercomputers to join the network and communicate ARPAnet shifted to a publicly funded utility during 1970s and 1980s Early users developed bulletin board services to discuss topics of shared interest Development of microprocessors and fiber-optic cables laid the foundation for commercialization of the Internet Figure 2.1: Distributed Networks How We Got Here: The Development of the Internet (2 of 5) Web 1.0—creation of World Wide Web, first web browsers, growth of Internet service providers and search engines World Wide Web: initially developed as an easier way for physicists around the world to create, post, and locate documents on the Internet Developed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in the late 1980s HTML (hypertext markup language): language for displaying text, images, and other multimedia Allows users to link files to one another Browsers: software applications that help users navigate the web Brought the web to mass audiences in 1993 How We Got Here: The Development of the Internet (3 of 5) Internet service providers (ISPs) offered Internet access to home users Initially occurred via a modem and telephone dial-up Broadband connections allowed for much faster download speeds Search engines offered a more automated way to find content How We Got Here: The Development of the Internet (4 of 5) Web 2.0—the Internet becomes interactive, shifting from a read-only to a read-write system Websites where users can read information, contribute digital content, and directly engage with other users Wikis: open and collaborative websites where people work together to edit and create content Social media platforms have exploited the capabilities of Web 2.0 Users create detailed profiles, and the sites feed users information tailored to their interests How We Got Here: The Development of the Internet (5 of 5) Web 3.0—characterized by two interrelated developments Semantic Web: allows computers to examine web pages and databases and provide solutions to people’s needs Internet of Things: integrates the Internet into almost every part of our environment These two developments are expected to work in tandem to alter how we relate to our media environment Our Complex Digital Environment (1 of 4) The Internet reduces the influence of centralized gatekeepers, who have traditionally decided which messages get circulated Benefits and complications of unrestricted communication Allows diverse voices to be heard; grassroots activism Difficult to contain misinformation and disinformation Our Complex Digital Environment (2 of 4) Online communities allow people to engage and connect with people who are similar to themselves Benefits and complications of online communities People can connect with others and enhance their lives in meaningful ways Social media contributes to creating online filter bubbles— spaces where we are exposed only to ideas that match our own beliefs Social media amplifies confirmation bias—favoring information that conforms to our preexisting beliefs over information that challenges them Our Complex Digital Environment (3 of 4) Analog: a category that refers to various ways of encoding information that existed before binary code Digital media can be manipulated far more easily than can analog media products Ability to manipulate media has created a remix culture—a society in which people are able to create and communicate by mixing, editing, combining, manipulating, or repurposing existing texts Our Complex Digital Environment (4 of 4) Benefits and complications of remix culture Expands user’s role in mass culture beyond that of consumer Act of remixing essential to how humans express themselves Remix advocates fight to protect right of fair use—a legal doctrine that permits people to use copyrighted material without permission as long as the use does not compromise its value Manipulation has led to the creation of deepfakes—images or videos that use advanced digital editing to create fraudulent but convincing content The Business of Controlling the Internet (1 of 4) Google, Amazon, and Facebook participate in surveillance capitalism, making money by controlling users’ personal data Data mining: tracking search histories, locations, browser settings, and other user information Cookies: computer files that automatically collect and transfer information between a website and a user’s browser IP address: the unique number that every device uses when communicating on the Internet The Business of Controlling the Internet (2 of 4) Social media platforms use addictive design principles to maximize user engagement Infinite scroll, “like” buttons, continually updated content Governments gather personal data to maintain national security Surveillance states: societies in which governments conduct systematic mass surveillance on their populations The Business of Controlling the Internet (3 of 4) Walled gardens: highly managed environments brought to us through apps Net neutrality assumes that all data being sent across the Internet will be treated the same Some media companies argue that asking content providers to pay different fees will give them resources needed to improve network infrastructure and lower Internet access costs for customers Net neutrality advocates argue that media companies just want to maximize profits by ignoring a fundamental principle of the Internet Governments sometimes control user access and mobility The Business of Controlling the Internet (4 of 4) Widespread anxiety about data security has inspired people to use different strategies to regain control over information Opt-in policies require websites to obtain explicit permission before collecting browsing history data Open-source software refers to software built by the public as part of a collective effort Librarians have built large nonprofit digital archives The Internet, Digital Communication, and Democracy Universal access: the notion that every citizen, regardless of income or location, should have the opportunity to use and benefit from a technology Digital divide: the growing contrast between those who can afford to purchase a computer and pay for Internet services and those who may not be able to afford a computer or pay for Internet services The rollout of 5G could narrow the digital divide The digital divide is even wider globally, as the most economically powerful countries have historically accounted for most of the web’s international flavor