Communication Theories and Its Influences
WEEK 1 Making sense of the impact on communication technologies
Reflective = reveal information about ourselves as individuals, groups and societies
(different cultures).
Utopian discourses = Optimistic discourses about the impact of technologies. Envision the
world improved by technologies.
Dystopian discourses = Pessimistic discourses about the impact of technologies. Envision the
world made worse by technologies
Technological determinism = Tendency to view technologies as casual agents, entering
societies as active forces of change that humans have little power to resist
Social constructivism = Argues that people are the primary sources of change in both
technology and society (designers, investors, users)
Social shaping of tech = Sees technology AND society as continually influencing one another
Technological affordances = properties or characteristics of technology that make possible
or encourage certain types of uses. Depend on how the technology is designed, but also on
how we make use of it (recognizes human agency).
Pathology of sustained success = Reduced and slow ability of a company to change and
adapt to new technological developments which leads to a business fail
Technological domestication = Technologies are taken for granted parts of everyday life, no
longer seen as agents of change
Cyber-utopianism = Naïve belief in the emancipatory nature of online communication
quasi-religious belief in the power of the internet to do supernatural things
Watchdog = A citizen that watches over democracy by, for example exposing illegal practices
or waste of pubic money
WEEK 2 Evolution of the media landscape
Remediation of technology = The idea that all new media ‘remediate’ the content of
previous media (use new technology to contain info, in a similar way (ipad->newsapp)
Media convergence = The use of electronic technology to integrate in one device media such
as newspapers, books,tv,radio
alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries,markets, audiences
Media Convergence as top-down corporate driven process = Media companies are learning
how to accelerate the flow of media content across delivery channels to expand revenue
opportunities, broaden markets and reinforce viewer commitments
Media convergence as Bottom-up consumer-driven process = Consumers know how to use
these different media technologies to bring the flow of media more fully under their control
and to interact with other users. They are fighting for the right to participate more fully in
their culture, to control the flow of media in their lives and to talk back to mass market
content.
Data journalism = Using algorithms, the sheer scale and range of digital information and
social science methods in combination with the traditional ‘nose for news’ and ability to tell
a compelling story
Robot journalism = The use of (semi-)autonomous technology to gather, organize or analyze
data, create stories, select (package),distribute or consume newsworthy information
WEEK 1 Making sense of the impact on communication technologies
Reflective = reveal information about ourselves as individuals, groups and societies
(different cultures).
Utopian discourses = Optimistic discourses about the impact of technologies. Envision the
world improved by technologies.
Dystopian discourses = Pessimistic discourses about the impact of technologies. Envision the
world made worse by technologies
Technological determinism = Tendency to view technologies as casual agents, entering
societies as active forces of change that humans have little power to resist
Social constructivism = Argues that people are the primary sources of change in both
technology and society (designers, investors, users)
Social shaping of tech = Sees technology AND society as continually influencing one another
Technological affordances = properties or characteristics of technology that make possible
or encourage certain types of uses. Depend on how the technology is designed, but also on
how we make use of it (recognizes human agency).
Pathology of sustained success = Reduced and slow ability of a company to change and
adapt to new technological developments which leads to a business fail
Technological domestication = Technologies are taken for granted parts of everyday life, no
longer seen as agents of change
Cyber-utopianism = Naïve belief in the emancipatory nature of online communication
quasi-religious belief in the power of the internet to do supernatural things
Watchdog = A citizen that watches over democracy by, for example exposing illegal practices
or waste of pubic money
WEEK 2 Evolution of the media landscape
Remediation of technology = The idea that all new media ‘remediate’ the content of
previous media (use new technology to contain info, in a similar way (ipad->newsapp)
Media convergence = The use of electronic technology to integrate in one device media such
as newspapers, books,tv,radio
alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries,markets, audiences
Media Convergence as top-down corporate driven process = Media companies are learning
how to accelerate the flow of media content across delivery channels to expand revenue
opportunities, broaden markets and reinforce viewer commitments
Media convergence as Bottom-up consumer-driven process = Consumers know how to use
these different media technologies to bring the flow of media more fully under their control
and to interact with other users. They are fighting for the right to participate more fully in
their culture, to control the flow of media in their lives and to talk back to mass market
content.
Data journalism = Using algorithms, the sheer scale and range of digital information and
social science methods in combination with the traditional ‘nose for news’ and ability to tell
a compelling story
Robot journalism = The use of (semi-)autonomous technology to gather, organize or analyze
data, create stories, select (package),distribute or consume newsworthy information
