Digital Communication- Summary
Chapter 1: Digital communication in a Digital society
- New communication models see the public not simply as consumers of
preconstructed messages, but as individuals who are shaping, sharing, reframing,
remixing, and co-constructing media content (prosumers).
- Network society --> digital society; in the sense that we are in an era where our
lives, our relationships, our culture, and our sociality are affected throughout by
digital processes.
- Social structures; as operating on three levels within a given society--> the macro
(nations, economics and legal systems), the meso (political parties and
communities), and the micro (individuals and relationships).
- Practical consciousness; is informed by mutual knowledge. --> we reflect on how
we used to do things and decide how we want to do them now.
- Giddens --> social structure consists of two dimensions: first, the rules implicated
when social systems are reproduced or altered. Second, resources, symbolic and
others; that people can draw upon while doing things in society. --> we can see
media as a symbolic structure --> because it is a product of social interactions
between people.
- Social change --> a) technology, b) social institutions, c) population, and d) the
environment. --> a change in one area can initiate changes in all of them. --> culture
of writing, which had an impact on social institutions.
The interplay of technology and social change inevitably leads to the question of whether
technology determines society or is rather determined by society.
- Determinism: encompasses two polar opposites.
Technological determinism; claims that technology develops independently from society.
Social determinism assumes that it is society that drives the evolution of technology.
Cultural beliefs, values, and social customs determine the use of technology and its
impact on society.
- Instrumentalism; consider technology as a neutral tool. The use of technology
reflects the needs, goals, and values of a society --> technology does not influence
society but is instead used by people for different purposes.
- Substantivism; technology is ruled by its own logic. It influences how society
develops because it impacts the political systems, culture and social structures.
, Technology has its own values, which can be good or bad, and people cannot
control the impact of technology on society.
- Social constructivism; technological development is shaped by a wide variety of
social, cultural, economic, and political factors --> different societies and different
people use and develop technology differently.
- We can conclude that the plurality and heterogeneity of societies lead to a plurality
and heterogeneity of technological applications and outcomes.
- Networked individualism --> they create communities around themselves and their
interests: online, through personal connections, or a mix of both. --> the individuals
and the connecting networks become the actors of social change.
- Digital divide --> describes the discrepancy between those who, for technical,
political, social, geographic, or economic reasons, have both access to and the
capability to use information and communication technologies (ICTs), and those
who do not.
The digital divide was mainly understood as the division between those who had access to
the ICTs and those who did not --> physical access. Nowadays, divisions develop along the
lines of social stratification.
Wilson (2004) --> defines four components of social access: financial access, cognitive
access, and content access.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) --> solutions that can be monetized.
- Marshall McLuhan --> “The medium is the message”.
- Remedition: means that every medium is in a continuous interplay with older media
by imitating, highlighting, incorporating, refashioning, or even absorbing them. -->
for example; the telephone.
- The consumers are now becoming so-called prosumers --> who have the power to
both create and consume the media products by reproducing, remixing,
recontextualizing, and sharing the content.
- Manovich --> describes new media as the mix between existing cultural
conventions and the conventions of software.
- Characteristics of New Media: (Lister et al (2009))
1. Digital: digitization --> refers to digital technologies and describes the process of
converting analog signals into digital forms. Digitalization --> refers to adopting and
using digital technologies in business and society as well as in private and public
communication. It also refers to the ongoing changes to societal and individual
activities that follow from the use of digital technologies.
Chapter 1: Digital communication in a Digital society
- New communication models see the public not simply as consumers of
preconstructed messages, but as individuals who are shaping, sharing, reframing,
remixing, and co-constructing media content (prosumers).
- Network society --> digital society; in the sense that we are in an era where our
lives, our relationships, our culture, and our sociality are affected throughout by
digital processes.
- Social structures; as operating on three levels within a given society--> the macro
(nations, economics and legal systems), the meso (political parties and
communities), and the micro (individuals and relationships).
- Practical consciousness; is informed by mutual knowledge. --> we reflect on how
we used to do things and decide how we want to do them now.
- Giddens --> social structure consists of two dimensions: first, the rules implicated
when social systems are reproduced or altered. Second, resources, symbolic and
others; that people can draw upon while doing things in society. --> we can see
media as a symbolic structure --> because it is a product of social interactions
between people.
- Social change --> a) technology, b) social institutions, c) population, and d) the
environment. --> a change in one area can initiate changes in all of them. --> culture
of writing, which had an impact on social institutions.
The interplay of technology and social change inevitably leads to the question of whether
technology determines society or is rather determined by society.
- Determinism: encompasses two polar opposites.
Technological determinism; claims that technology develops independently from society.
Social determinism assumes that it is society that drives the evolution of technology.
Cultural beliefs, values, and social customs determine the use of technology and its
impact on society.
- Instrumentalism; consider technology as a neutral tool. The use of technology
reflects the needs, goals, and values of a society --> technology does not influence
society but is instead used by people for different purposes.
- Substantivism; technology is ruled by its own logic. It influences how society
develops because it impacts the political systems, culture and social structures.
, Technology has its own values, which can be good or bad, and people cannot
control the impact of technology on society.
- Social constructivism; technological development is shaped by a wide variety of
social, cultural, economic, and political factors --> different societies and different
people use and develop technology differently.
- We can conclude that the plurality and heterogeneity of societies lead to a plurality
and heterogeneity of technological applications and outcomes.
- Networked individualism --> they create communities around themselves and their
interests: online, through personal connections, or a mix of both. --> the individuals
and the connecting networks become the actors of social change.
- Digital divide --> describes the discrepancy between those who, for technical,
political, social, geographic, or economic reasons, have both access to and the
capability to use information and communication technologies (ICTs), and those
who do not.
The digital divide was mainly understood as the division between those who had access to
the ICTs and those who did not --> physical access. Nowadays, divisions develop along the
lines of social stratification.
Wilson (2004) --> defines four components of social access: financial access, cognitive
access, and content access.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) --> solutions that can be monetized.
- Marshall McLuhan --> “The medium is the message”.
- Remedition: means that every medium is in a continuous interplay with older media
by imitating, highlighting, incorporating, refashioning, or even absorbing them. -->
for example; the telephone.
- The consumers are now becoming so-called prosumers --> who have the power to
both create and consume the media products by reproducing, remixing,
recontextualizing, and sharing the content.
- Manovich --> describes new media as the mix between existing cultural
conventions and the conventions of software.
- Characteristics of New Media: (Lister et al (2009))
1. Digital: digitization --> refers to digital technologies and describes the process of
converting analog signals into digital forms. Digitalization --> refers to adopting and
using digital technologies in business and society as well as in private and public
communication. It also refers to the ongoing changes to societal and individual
activities that follow from the use of digital technologies.
