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WEEK 20 Year 13 SOC
Impact of the new media

Textbook pages 221-224

 Cycle Test –
Week 21
Please revise key
concepts and theories on
media (weeks 17 and 18)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

To explain the impact of the new media on privacy, globalisation and

power structures

To analyse the debate between digital pessimism and digital

optimism

To evaluate the impact of the new media on social identities and

interpersonal relationships
The Impact of New Media
The impact on privacy
New Media and privacy

One of the main issues arising from the growth

of new media for consumers is personal
privacy.
Social media make money through advertising,
which can now be targeted to individuals
through the sale of users’ personal data to
third parties.
Users, therefore, exchange ‘free’ services for
some loss of privacy.
New Media and privacy

• This has been taken advantage of by some

corporations such as Facebook which are
able to accurately gather a wide range of
personal information from an analysis of an
individual ‘likes’ and their other online
content.
• This includes information such as ethnicity,
IQ, sexuality, substance use and political
views.
New Media and privacy

• In this respect, Socha and Eber-Schmid

(2012) argue that new media are:
• ‘characterised by an astonishing and
uncharted level of personal
experience/exposure. Online companies
and sites can track the content of personal
emails and site visits I order to target
advertisements on users.’
New Media and privacy

• There are also websites whose sole

purpose is to compile and share personal
data with web users.
• A further privacy issue is the rapid spread
and persistence of online data.
• Once data is released into the wild of the
web, whether in the shape of sites, blogs,
tweets or tagged photos, it is difficult, often
impossible, to erase or withdraw it.
Surveillance

• While these ideas represent one form of

surveillance, more explicit forms are made
easier by new media technology.
• The state, for example, may monitor its
citizens to identify which websites they
visit, who they email or who they talk to
using voice over internet protocols (VoIP)
such as Skype.
• Digital transmissions are relatively easy to
intercept and read, especially if they are
unencrypted.
Surveillance

• Surveillance targets, from environmental

activists to political parties, may not realise
that they are being monitored.
• Monitoring ‘from above’ is an issue,
therefore.
• A greater willingness and ability to share
information online also leaves people open
to forms of surveillance such as digital
stalking or bullying.
Surveillance

Neelamalar and Chitra’s (2009) study of Indian

college students and their use of social
networks does, however, suggest an
‘awareness of the danger and risk involved in
using these sites.’
• They interpret this as ‘a positive indicator
Indian youth are not only tech-savvy and
socially active through social networking
sites but they also possess social
consciousness.’
The Impact of New Media
The impact on globalisation
How the new media are
contributing to globalisation

New media can be truly global in scope and reach.

Older technologies such as TV and film do of course have global features – the US and
Indian film industries, Hollywood and Bollywood, for example, span the globe – but they are
fundamentally local technologies.
They are designed to be consumed by local audiences that just happen to be in different
countries.
New media

In contrast, new media such as websites and

social networks are often global in intent.
They enable global connections through the
development of information networks based on
the creation and exchange of information.
A significant aspect of these global features is
the ability to create and share text, images
and videos and other content without being
slowed by physical borders.
New media

• New media connect all kinds of information

– text, images, sound and video – in many
different ways across a global network.
• A key feature, therefore, is
interconnectedness, not just of information
but also of people.
• A good example of this is the development
of Wikipedia, a free non-linear online
encyclopaedia created by its users and
which anyone can edit.
 The Impact of the New Media
The impact of new media as a challenge
to existing power structures
Piracy

The various features of new media raise a new set of issues for both producers and
consumers.
For example, the development of global computer networks has presented problems for
media industries whose products are relatively easy to copy and distribute digitally.
The development of peer-to-peer networks has led to the rise of global forms of intellectual
property theft (piracy)
Piracy

Media conglomerates have responded to this in a range of ways:

 There have been legal prosecutions of individual offenders and attempts to shut down
sites, such as Napster an Megaupload, from which consumers could download illegal
copies of music, film and TV programmes.
 New economic models have been developed. Freemium models, for example, provide a
free service, such as software or a game, but users then pay a premium for ‘added extras.
Popular Facebook games, such as Farmville, have successfully taken this approach.
‘Hacking’

A further issue is the unauthorised access to computers and networks

(hacking). This involves:
 Governments: cyberwarfare, for example, is when governments engage in the politically
motivated hacking of rival government computer networks for reasons that range from
spying to sabotage.
 Organisations: In 2010, the US government claimed that the cybertheft of copyrights and
patents by China remained at ‘unacceptable levels’
 Individuals: viruses and malware designed to damage computers, obtain (extort) money or
steal information.
The debate about digital optimism versus digital
pessimism
Negroponte (1995)
The development of new media has led to a debate
about the impact that changing technologies have on
economic, political and cultural life.
This debate revolves around two opposing views: digital
optimism and pessimism.
From the viewpoint of digital optimism, the defining
characteristic of new media is a form of digital liberation
that Negroponte (1995) claimed is based on four
processes:
1. Decentralisation - new media will reduce the power
of the state
2. Globalisation - people being able to cooperate with
each other on an international level, regardless of
geographical boundaries
3. Harmonisation - strengthening of international
bonds
4. Empowerment - ordinary citizen having more power
Economic terms
In economic terms, we see the development of new models of
production, distribution and exchange, particularly ‘free’ or
‘gifting’ models, where the consumer pays nothing to use a
medium.
One significant new model is the development of open economic
systems where software, for example, is developed
collaboratively to take advantage of wide creative pools of talent.
Tapscott and Williams (2008) call this ‘Wikinomics’ in
acknowledgment of the pioneering collaborative efforts of
Wikipedia.
Producers
Producers – especially large corporations – have to be more
responsive to consumer demands because the ability to act as a
global crowd, passing information swiftly from individual to
individual, means that corporate behaviour is continually being
monitored, evaluated and held to account.
Digital technology assists crowd-sourcing.
The process is based on ‘the wisdom of crowds’: if you ask
enough people their opinion, as basic ‘crowd truth’ will emerge.
Politically
Politically, the global flow of information weakens the
state’s hold over individuals and ideas.
Repressive state actions are much harder to disguise or
keep secret when populations have access to instant
forms of mass communication, such as Twitter.
The internet also makes it harder for the state to censor or
restrict the flow of information and enables people to have
a greater understanding of the meaning of issues and
events.
Culturally
Culturally, behaviour can be both participatory and personalised.
The global village combines collectivity with individuality.
Co-operation flourishes while people simultaneously maintain what
Negroponte calls the ‘Daily Me’ –the personalisation of things like news
and information focused on the specific interests of each individual.
Personalisation contributes to participation by encouraging a diverse
individuality that leads to the development of new ways of thinking and
behaving.
The fact that people can be anonymous on the web encourages both
freedom of speech and whistle-blowing.
Digital pessimism
The alternative digital pessimism interpretation
argues that the globalising processes on which
new media depend are neither wholly beneficial
nor unambiguous.
While globalisation involves decentralising
processes, for example, it also produces greater
centralisation across economic, political and
cultural behaviours.
Economically
In economic terms, ‘free’ business models are only free in the
sense that their costs are hidden from the consumer.
These costs include the following:
 Exploiting free labour: the news and opinion site The
Huffington Post, for example, was built around the free
labour provided by its blogging contributors; the site was
sold by its owners for $300 million in 2011.
 Driving down quality: companies that cannot rely on cheap
or free labour must either cut their costs, potentially
undermining quality, or go out of business.
 Privacy: new media that depend on free labour, such as ,
social networking sites where consumers create content,
make money by selling user data to advertisers.
 Copyright: some corporate social media sites lay claim to
the copyright of user-generated content, such as
photographs and videos that can then be sold to
advertisers.
Economically
In its early years, the internet was often compared to the
American West of the 19 t h century, with pioneers hoping to
achieve success in a lawless environment.
Increasingly, however, large parts of the internet have come
under the control of giant powerful corporations.
The situation may really be similar to that of old media, where
large corporations exert considerable control over the choices
made by consumers and sometimes act in unethical or illegal
ways to maximise their profits.

An example, is Facebook’s gathering of vast amounts of

information on its users.
A further similarity between the behaviour of old and new
media corporations involves two related processes:
1. Locking out competitors from markets
2. Locking in consumers to products
Amazon and Apple

•An example of both is Amazon’s

development of an eBook reader
(the Kindle) that gave the company
control over who could publish
eBooks for this product and how
consumers could use the product
(to buy eBooks from Amazon).
•Apple locks consumers into its
products and services by, for
example, rolling out of new
operating systems which prevent
owners of its mobile phones from
having repairs carried out by a
third party.
Conglomeration
Conglomeration is a related process that mirrors
the behaviour of old-media corporations.
The highly concentrated ownership of new media
allows global corporations to buy up competitors
or emerging technologies.
For example, Alphabet (Google) has taken over
more than 200 companies such as Youtube and
Motorola.
Conglomeration
Schecter (2000) claims that this leads to a decrease in
digital diversity in areas such as news production.
As he argues : “The internet is not very diverse, even
though it appears to be. The concentration in ownership
that is restructuring old media has led to conglomeration
in news transmission and a narrowing of sourcing in new
media. It is cheaper for websites to buy someone else’s
news than generate their own.’
It is also ‘cheaper’ for global corporations to take and
republish content generated by individual users with little
or no prospect of recompense.
Politically
Politically, mass communication tools can be used by
repressive regimes to restrict individual freedoms and
enhance various forms of state surveillance.
For example, GPS technology can be used to track both
the online and offline behaviour of users.
The impact of the new media on social identities and
interpersonal relationships
 Identities are about the way people see
themselves and are seen by others.
In the past, many aspects of people’
identities were fixed and difficult to change:
their social class, gender, ethnic group,
religion and so on. This is a more objective
view of identity and does not take into
account how we see ourselves
Postmodernists suggest that identities have
become more open to change; people have
Identities greater choice and freedom. Identity is more
and relationships subjective and more to do with which groups
we see ourselves as belonging to.
Interpersonal relationships are the
relationships we have with others, both face
to face and online.
One aspect of this greater choice is through new media.
Digital optimists argue that the new media open up a greater range of identities and an
ability to change them. This is in line with the Postmodernist theme of greater variability
and flexibility in identities.
People can construct new identities for themselves online, and are able to communicate
with a more diverse range of types of people, including those who are far away
geographically, than was the case before.
In 2013, a study called ‘Future Identities: Changing Identities in the UK: The Next 10 Years’
Digital
argues that the UK is now a virtual environment as well as a real place. It argues that
although the internet has not produced a new kind of identity, it has been instrumental in
optimists
raising awareness that identities can be more multiple, culturally contextual than previously
thought – each of us have numerous social identities.
Rajendran (2018) refers to the opportunities provided by virtual worlds, such as ‘Second Life’ and
‘World of Warcraft’, where people can different identities and imagine a totally new existence for
themselves.
He refers to the ‘liberating effect’ of the internet for people who feel they are trapped in the wrong
body – that is people who are transgender or who embrace gender fluidity. Also for people who are
members of the LGBTQ+ community, who live in societies where homosexuality is stigmatised or
illegal – the internet has provided reassurance.
Digital
optimists
He states that we no longer need to feel constrained by fixed ideas of national, cultural or sexual
identity. Technology can take us beyond who society tells us we are.
As regards interpersonal relationships, new media allow for more social networking and
sharing.
It becomes easier to keep in touch with people, re-establish lost contacts and build online
communities.
Examples are where migrant communities can stay in touch with families and friends back
home and dating apps have expanded the range of potential partners.
Madianou and Miller (2011) conducted research into female migrant workers from the
Philippines who were able to use new media to keep in touch with their children, and to
check they were being cared for properly, (previously they had relied on occasional letters
and infrequent phone calls). However, they also found that sometimes this led to the
Digital
amplification of family conflicts and led to resentment from children who experience it as a
form of monitoring.
optimists
Social media can also break down feelings of social isolation for those who are
housebound, isolated or shy.
Digital optimists suggest that this is bound to widen people’s views – they will become
more tolerant and open-minded.
Digital pessimists see this in a different light.
They question the strength of online relationships, for example, how many people’s
Facebook ‘friends’ are really friends in the usual meaning of that word?
They also question the extent to which people will come into contact with new ideas
and become more tolerant.
It is more likely, they say, that online networks and communities will be like-minded
people who may reinforce each other’s intolerance.
Furthermore, there are opportunities for people to misrepresent their identities online
due to the anonymity that the internet has allowed (e.g. adults masquerading as
children to groom children)
Digital
This pessimists
can be seen in the way, for example, that people with extreme political views
are able to meet online and form communities.
Even with following the news, say digital pessimists, rather than being exposed to a
range of views that will encourage them to think and to understand others’ point of
view, online people can now just follow the sites that give them the angle on the
news that they want, confirming their own prejudices
 A lot of behaviour online is negative: trolling, cyber-bullying, abuse, death threats.
Other examples include the misogynistic abuse of women in the public eye who
challenge traditional conceptions of femininity and cyberbullying of children by their
peers.

Sittichai and Smith (2015) while the form of cyberbullying takes can be conditioned
by cultural and schooling factors, it occurs in all societies where there is a high
level of digital activity and social media exacerbates the problem by giving the
Digital
bullies apessimists
level of anonymity by hiding their true identity. It is particularly dangerous
as can be shared widely and remain accessible indefinitely.
There is also concern about the power of the corporations that dominate social media,
such as Facebook, which is able to collect huge amounts of information about its
users.
One view of social networking is that it is less about connecting people than about
advertisers being able to target customers more effectively.
Finally, spending time online may take away from real-life interaction with people
losing the ability to communicate in the real world and spending less quality time with
Digital
family and friends. Although, research by Livingstone et al (2018) ‘Parenting for a
Digital Future’ challenges this view
pessimists
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

To explain the impact of the new media on privacy, globalisation and

power structures

To analyse the debate between digital pessimism and digital

optimism

To evaluate the impact of the new media on social identities and

interpersonal relationships
 Cycle Test –
Week 21
Please revise key
concepts and theories on
media (weeks 17 and 18)
Exit Ticket

In the poll, give one way that new media has either
enhanced or damaged people’s lives.
Lesson complete!
See you next lesson