I was very mistaken about weekly webinars in this class. The only other webinar will be during week four, a whole two weeks away! What is so special about this webinar is that Vanessa secured a guest lecture with the authors of our text, Networked.
In finishing up Part II of this book, I wanted to reflect on some of the author's points surrounding networked information. Among many examples of how being connected online has changed our everyday experiences, the news today was the most salient to me.
News then vs. now: In this section, the authors point out how the inclusion of hyperlinks, multimedia, and interactive forums has radically changed how we learn about and co-create news. As citizens we can generate our own news and be part of history as it is created second to second. The "triple revolution" of the social network, internet, and now mobile empowers individuals to be a part of the news with an important ability to filter and select the information we want to access.
News then vs. now: In this section, the authors point out how the inclusion of hyperlinks, multimedia, and interactive forums has radically changed how we learn about and co-create news. As citizens we can generate our own news and be part of history as it is created second to second. The "triple revolution" of the social network, internet, and now mobile empowers individuals to be a part of the news with an important ability to filter and select the information we want to access.
Growth, variety, differentiation, speed, ease of access, credibility, and social construction of data summarize the change in the nature of information and the "media ecology". But how diverse are sources really? Aren't our experiences engineered? Google has made finding information incredibly easy, but doesn't it also create a uniform experience, as well. (That was the only point that I questioned in this section.)
Ok, now I am experiencing FOMO and have to creep on Twitter. Let me know what you think.
The new media is interesting. On the one hand, there are a massive number of outlets catering to every possible ideology and political preference. On the other hand, algorithms seem to increasingly send us news (and advertising) that is "knows" we will like, anyway. So we feel like we are getting a greater diversity of news when in fact most everything we are fed aligns with our own values.
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to ask Barry Wellman to talk about this point :)
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