Does the Internet Extend Traditional Democracy?

Generally speaking today’s population are leading busier lifestyles. The internet gives individuals the ability to access news at the click of a button, thus deeming itself an appealing way to gather information and communicate. Within the infrastructure of the internet lie millions of web pages, blogs, chat rooms, search engines and networking sites that individuals can use to access information and communicate globally. In the world of politics the internet flourishes with attempts of creating and sustaining the idea of e-politics and e-democracy. Academically, it is crucial to question the uses and limits of the internet in terms of democracy and the idea of “community” in the age of networked digital media. Online news site, Indymedia, will be used as an example of new media e-politics to help conceptualise the argument.

A popular belief lies with the idea that the Internet will contribute to a new era of democracy and recreate Habermas’ public sphere (Thornton, 2002). The explosion of online political groups and activism certainly reflect the internet’s potential, however who predominantly makes use of it raises question as to whether or not it is a true reflection of democracy (Papacharissi, 2002). For those who have access to the internet, it can become an effective tool for political activism; nevertheless it can not be guaranteed that those who own a computer will actually participate in any kind of political discourse (Papacharissi). As research shows creating a virtual public sphere does not represent a robust and true public sphere (Levine, 2002; Papacharissi).

Tocqueville (1990), although he speaks of an American population, believed that the dedication of the American people to public affairs encompasses a healthy democratic environment and adds to an individual’s sense of existence and self respect. Placed in context, and America’s political system, voluntary voting rights may contribute to Toqueville’s view. However, on a global level the essence of what he is saying can be applied to all countries and their strive for democracy. In the age of the internet, it is foolish to think that it does not provide avenues for political expression. Internet users have a wealth of information at their fingertips, allowing the individual to find voting records, join special interest groups, track congressional and supreme court rulings and fight for consumer rights, to name a few (Papacharissi, 2002).

Indymedia, an online news site contributed to by independent media organisations and freelance journalists has been one site among the millions to make e-democracy possible. Since the coming age of technology, internet has changed a lot of the roles media plays in society. The internet has given those whom, in traditional media types would have no voice, a voice (Goot, 2008; Matheson, 2004). Indymedia offers its viewers the opportunity to participate in opinion polls, online forums and blogs. Until very recently traditional media did not offer its viewers/readers such interactions. The internet has forced traditional media “to rethink journalism’s cultural and societal roles” (Carlson, 2007, p. 1014). With sites dedicated to ‘truth’ and ‘freedom of speech’ like Indymedia, it can only be assumed that new media is taking a step in the right direction.

Despite the fact that the internet creates a wealth of space for political discussion, some academics still believe it to be plagued with inadequacies (Levine, 2002; Papacharissi, 2002). Papacharissi writes that although online forums are dominated by elites they still do not have much political sway. Academic stance follows with many experts labelling the internet, the “digital divide.” Disadvantaged individuals are less likely to use the internet, as income, race and disability all influence the likelihood that an individual will not access the internet (Dahlberg, 2001; Levine). Moreover, not all information available on the internet is democratic or promotes democracy (Dahlberg). Take for instance some white supremist groups, although democracy is founded in an individual’s right to freedom of speech this argument remains a difficult one (Papacharissi).

The internet has a way of connecting people from diverse backgrounds raising enthusiasm amongst these groups who now have the ability to share in political discussion. Anonymity is offered in most cases when needed and allows individuals to overcome boundaries defined by possible prejudices, permitting free and open communication through exchanging ideas (Papacharissi, 2002).

Of major concern is the internets potential to provide governments with surveillance and control over the information the public have access to. Not only that, emails can be read by unintended others, forged, and coded to allow others access to personal documents and files (Dahlberg, 2001; Thornton, 2002). If governments are granted the right to survey what we view, our democratic right will diminish (Thornton). Censorship of political information deemed inappropriate by ruling governments will see numerous filters attached to sites stopping the public from viewing them (Dahlberg; Thornton). Fortunately the Telecommunications Interception Legislation Amendment Bill 2002, which was written in support of this, has not yet been passed in Australian parliament (Thornton).

As it stands today, the internet still gives journalists ‘freedom’ and ‘choice’ in news coverage as the “codes and practices become weaker as journalism moves to new context” (Matheson, 2004, p. 444). Governments have little control over the content published on the internet and huge media corporations, like fox, do not govern what is deemed newsworthy and profitable. Sites like Indymedia are still based on their dedication to truth. Indymedia considers itself a “democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate and passionate tellings of truth” (www.indymedia.org).

Conversely, with less stringent publishing guidelines the quality and link to factual evidence in reporting for networks like Indy media have been the main focus for critics (Matheson, 2004). Possibly because traditional mediums are constantly under public scrutiny, so more measures are taken when publishing a story through broadcast and print media on the quality of the document. There are also no laws governing those who publish blogs. It’s just one persons perspective on an issue and doesn’t necessarily have to contain any fact. Articles on Indymedia are quite often published anonymously, making it very hard to put a name to a ’voice’, again raising issues on authenticity. This is unlike the traditional newspaper article, where the journalist is always linked to the article in which they publish.

As mentioned previously, the idea of democracy places emphasis on a public sphere. For democracy to be successful, there needs to be a representative public sphere, and within this public sphere must lie a sense of community. The internet however, creates a new sense of community, where geographic location is irrelevant. Fourty years ago the idea of a virtual community would seem unimaginable to the general population, today the internet makes this possible. No longer do borders constrain the public, who now have access to and can exchange information to other individuals from all over the world with similar interests (Srinivasan, 2004). Srinivasan defines a virtual community as “a community that shares similar interests, values or ideals” (p. 94). There is no doubt that communities exist on the internet, one just has to take a look at the growing number of groups and online clubs to acknowledge this (clubs.yahoo.com or groups.google.com).

Moreover, just like a traditional community, a virtual community provides sociability, support, and social capital to its members (Srinivasan, 2004). Emile Durkheim’s concept of solidarity can be applied still to the virtual community, protecting it from anomie (Bimber, 1998). Through strengthening relationships and opening latent connections, new media can create a sense of community that prevails physical space (Bimber; Srinivasan).

With community extending beyond one’s neighbour, elaborate opportunities are available to sustain democracy (Bimber, 1998). There is expectation that the internet will enhance mutual understanding, greater appreciation for differences and views of others and diminish racial and prejudicial boundaries where people have the opportunity to build bonds regardless of distance and culture (Bimber). This thus pressures society to change their concept of community to remain up to date with current technological trends (Jankowski).

On the other hand, critics highlight the fluid nature such virtual communities create (Jankowski). Whilst individuals can become quickly engaged in online communities they can also become as quickly disengaged (Jankowski). Thus for these reasons critics believe traditional communities remain optimal as little contribution can be made to a public sphere from an already fragmented association (Jankowski, Dahlberg, 2001). Many virtual communities try to make up for what is lost in a physical community, but because of such heterogeneity among these groups Jankowski believes they account for no additional feelings of belonging.

According to Habermas’ original theory of the public sphere, reflexivity, that is, the ability to critically evaluate one’s culture does not contribute to a large part of these online communities (Dahlberg, 2001). Members of online groups often lack the rules and regulations of traditional communities. As working with differences and respectful listening may be paramount to both communities, they still remain an issue (Dahlberg). The difference remains in the punishment. As mentioned previously, online groups are usually governed by few, these elitists often determine the rules and regulations such sites run by.

Regardless of the opposing views presented in the literature, the internet does have the ability to enhance democracy and extend the public sphere through virtual communities. This ability depends on the people who use it and the laws or lack of, that govern this possibility. Both concepts, democracy and community, rely on each other and it therefore becomes imperative that online communities and political websites pride themselves on sincerity, inclusion, rather than exclusion, and reflexivity (Dahlberg, 2001).





References

About Indymedia. (2008). Retrieved December 8, 2009, from the Indymedia web site: http://www.indymedia.org/en/static/about.shtml.

Bimber, B. (1998). The internet and political transformation: Populism, community, and accelerated pluralism. Polity, 31, 133-160.

Carlson, M. (2007). Order versus access: News search engines and the challenge to traditional journalistic roles. Media, Culture & Society, 29, 1014-1030.

Dahlberg, L. (2001). The internet and democratic discourse: Exploring the prospects of online deliberative forums extending the public sphere. Information,Communication & Society, 4, 615-633.

Goot, M. (2008). Is the news on the internet different? Leaders, frontbenchers and other candidates in the 2007 Australian election. Australian Journal of Political Science, 43, 99-110.

Jankowski, N. W Creating community with media: History, theories and scientific investigations. In L. Lievrouw & S. Livingstone (Eds.), Handbook of New Media, (pp. 34-49). London: Sage.

Levine, P. (2002). Can the internet rescue democracy? Toward an on-line commons. In R. Hayduk & K. Mattson (Eds.), Democracy's movement: Reforming the American political system for the 21st century (pp. 121-137). Lanham: MD.

Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: Some trends in online journalism. New Media and Society, 6, 443-468.

Papacharissi, Z. (2002). The virtual sphere. New Media and Society, 4, 9-27.

Srinivasan, R. (2004). Reconstituting the urban through community-articulated digital environments. Journal of Urban Technology, 11, 93-111.

Thornton, A. (2002). Does the internet create democracy? Unpublished doctoral dissertation.

Tocqueville, A.D. (1990) Democracy in America, Vol. 1. New York: Vintage Classics.

New media ecology / Course evaluation

The lecture encompassed the term "media ecology" and defined it from more of a sociological perspective, stating that it is the study of how media influences society. Marshall McLuhan, who was mentioned in the first lecture was reintroduced with his ideas of media. McLuhan believed "media are all human means of expression and conveying meaning." This concept relates back to McLuhan's idea of media becoming an extension of man.
To conceptually understand the impact of media Eric McLuhan used Tetrads. These consist of four principle questions:

1. What does a medium enhance or extend?
2. What does it make obsolete?
3. What does it retrieve from older media?
4. What does it reverse or flip when pushed to its extreme?

New Communications Technologies (the course) creates and enhances the invisible environment of media by asking questions.

Overall, I found the course very informative. I have learned a lot of things that I will take away with me. The course has given me a greater knowledge of how the internet influences a number of sociological domains. I now think about new media and privacy issues, government filters and open software in a completely different light. I will admit at first I did not know how I was going to get through two weeks of content that appeared so foreign to me, but Adam has been a great lecturer and tutor, I have really enjoyed taking his classes.

Presenting Jason Nelson...

Todays lecture was given by artist Jason Nelson.... I found him very amusing. He introduced us to a number of out there and interesting websites like google disaster maps, which give you an upto the minute view of disasters happening around the world, plotted on a map. Speedtest.net, a site that tests your internet speed to anywhere in the world, showing us visually how the internet is connected throughout the world. Personas.media.net, collaborating all the information on a persons name and reporting trends about that name. Sketchcast, allowing one to make their own animations and various generation tools. The internet changes the way we think about content and the various capabilities within it. Common thought lies with the notion that the internet gives everyone the ability to achieve their 15 minutes of fame, but to maintain this fame, Jason says one must continuously be creative.
When discussing his work, he emphasised the idea of experiencing a work of art without neccessarily disecting and interpreting it. Living in a postmodern world, this idea is central to many artists. Allowing one's mind to fully experience his work reveals a meaning that is both perculiar, distinctive and unique to the individual interracting with it.

The dilemma of file sharing!

The internet's sole purpose is to copy (to recreate). Copyright tries to police this. Through projects like Creative Commons the middleman, the content publisher, is removed from the relationship the artist holds with their intellectual property and the consumer. For copyrighters the core of the file sharing problem is ownership, raising the question, who is the distributor of content? Content publishers e.g., record companies, try to preserve copyrights by extending their term. Individual's in the communications industry refer to this as the "Mickey Mouse protection act" which refers to the never ending copyright over the cartoon character. What content publishers do not realise (or fail to acknowledge), is that the current copright laws do not fit in with our technological age. Mediation or negotiation appears to be a more suitable resolution focus than major publishers taking individuals to court over such "piracy" matters.

Digital poet: Jason Nelson

I explored three of Jason Nelson's works, "this is / isn't a pandemic flu," "uncontrollable semantics," and "conversation." I then answered the following questions in relation to these works...
How does it make you feel?
I really like the concept of Nelson's work. I think it is unique and creative. It opens up a new world of exploration, taking yourself through these unfamiliar realms. I feel a sense of intrigue and anxiety when I search through these pieces of digital poetry, particularly reading the text of "this is / isn't a pandemic flu."
What does it makes you think about?
I guess what on earth these creations mean... what is the substance behind them? Some appear more obvious than others. The majority are obscure and vague (to me), however this strangeness attracts me to his works and I would love to find out more behind his poetry.
What are the other media forms that it uses, or is similar to?
At a really superficial level they resemble some similarity to a video game (in terms of the graphics and user controlled options).
If we accept that Jason's works are poetry - How do you "read" digital poetry like that?
There are all the elements of traditional poetry embedded in his works.... only with a twist. When an individual reads a traditional poem, the person creates a world of sound, text and imagery inside their own heads. What a poem resembles to them when they hear it. In my opinion what Nelson is essentially creating, is the imagination of an individual when they read a particular poem, all the "goings-on" inside one's mind projected in digital form. Quite fascinating really.

Tutorial Task #7

• Sign an e-petition.

http://quesmo.epetitions.net/

This petition was regarding on the spot fines for smoking in cars with children.

• Respond to a professional blogger at a major news site.

http://malcolmturnbull.com.au/MalcolmsBlogs/tabid/105/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/697/Senate-Rejects-ETS.aspx

• What is Barak Obama up to today?

Obama is participating in the Jobs and Economic Growth Forum at the Whitehouse today. Found using : http://twitter.com/BARACKOBAMA

• Find out who your local, state and federal representatives are.

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf

Local: Geoff Provost

State: Nathan Rees

Federal: Tony Abott

• Look up the Queensland or Australian hansard to find the last time your local member spoke in parliament.

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20091202008
Geoff Provest's last speech was about the crimes amendment bill on the 2nd of December, 2009.

• Let your local member know what you think about their last speech.

• Read the lecture and the readings, pursue a couple of the topics that you find most interesting and then post your blog with your well-considered thoughts about the theory and practice of politics.
  

Political Possibility!

Todays lecture was on the influence the internet has over contemporary democracy, presented by Stephen Stockwell.

Stephen discussed the role of opinion polling in elections.... a point he made was that scientific opinion polling does serve a purpose in contemporary politics by informing politicians about public opinion and in the most desirable of instances persuading political decision making.

An interesting concept discussed was the idea of the Athenian experience..... which I presume alludes to a time when greek philosphers like Aristotle and Plato's themes of democracy dominated. The contemporary Athenian experience refers to utopian ideals of the ability of the internet creating a place where everyone has the opportunity to get online and voice their opinions. Logic however, informs us that this is not the case.

The internet has created a shift in the political experience, what used to be secret is now more transparent. Social media sites like Twitter provide insight into political party rooms, with constant status updates informing the public as decisions are made. New technology, like Twitter, has the ability to get between gaps of institution and create new possibilities in understanding how politics work!

Overall, the internet provides the public with alot more opportunities to voice their opinion.

Research Essay

I am thinking of doing this question for the essay....
What are the uses/limits of the internet in terms of politics and/or democracy? Should we rethink the nature of the political? What happens to the nation/state in the age of networks that have the potential to span the whole planet? What has happened to the idea of "community" in the age of networked digital media? Discuss with an example.
I have found 6 references that appear to be relevant to this topic.
1. Papacharissi, Z. (2002). The virtual sphere. New Media and Society, 4, 9-27.
This journal discusses both sides of the argument over internet access promoting and facilitating contemporary democracy. The main argument is; for those who have access to computers, the internet is a valuable resource for political participation. This seems to be a standard point made across numerous research papers on the same topic.
2. Levine, P. (2002). Can the internet rescue democracy? Toward an on-line commons. In R. Hayduk & K. Mattson (Eds.), Democracy's movement: Reforming the American political system for the 21st century (pp. 121-137). Lanham: MD.
This chapter discusses the unjusts in America's democracy, paying particular attention to the poorly educated. It argues that many of America's poor do not vote thus there lies a major bias in elections, where powerful officials dominate voting. With the internet and the relatively easy access it provides American citizens there lies hope that these voices will be heard.
3. Srinivasan, R. (2004). Reconstituting the urban through community-articulated digital environments. Journal of Urban Technology, 11, 93-111.
Social, economic, and political factors dynamics influence the environment and create a sense of community that extends the neighborhood and geographic location. Digital environments all an individual to be a member of multiple social groups.
4. Jankowski, N. W Creating community with media: History, theories and scientific investigations.
This chapter explores the relationship between new media and community. It provides a historical overview of traditional forms of media and their relationship with community and discusses the transformation of new media with relevant case studies.
5. Clift, S. (2000). An internet of democracy. Communications of the ACM, 43, 31-32.
Raises question to: Do we want to build the Internet into the very nature our many democracies? Or will we maintain the default course where democracy is a burdensome add-on and side application that happens to run on the Internet? Just as we spend time and resources to make the Internet safe for e-commerce, shouldn't we do the same for e-democracy? Article is extremely short, but brushes over the author's answers to these questions. Very subjective. Do not think I will use this article for my assignment.

Virtual Philosophy

Taken from The Matrix character Morpheus:
"What is real? How do you define real? If you are talking about your senses, what you feel, taste, smell, or see, then all you're talking about are electrical signals interpreted by your brain."

This lecture is my favorite so far...... I found the content challenging and extremely interesting.

Adam related the concept of virtual philosophy back to Plato and his writings on the "essential truths." Plato suggested that "essential truths" relate to objects in the world having an ideal form. We do not see what is truly there, instead we see a shadow of reality.
Following discussion about Plato and his allegory of a cave the lecture then moved on to philosopher, Guy Debord. Debord wrote "Society of the Spectacle" which grounds itself firmly in teaching the individual how to become accustomed to mediated life.
Following this Adam discussed the ideas of Eco. Umberto Eco wrote of a "hyper-reality" which builds upon McLuhan's idea of the media being an extension of ourselves. Thus, virtual worlds of the internet allow us to experience reality like never before.
The lecture concluded with the ideas placed forward by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. They perceive reality as a string of moments (Platonic essences) in which all the different paths and outcomes (possible forms) make up the virtual reality.

Free culture, free society.

Creative commons: Creative commons started in December 2002. It's sole purpose is to create copyright agreements that are fair and just. It allows for the individuals creative and intellectual property to be used however they wish. It is a "non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting reasonable copyright. Instead of "all rights reserved" creative commons prides itself on it's content being "some rights reserved." Individuals can determine the extent to which their property will be bound by commercial rights, derivatives and share a like functions.

Free software movement: "Free/ libre, open source software." Free software was founded by Richard Stallman in 1981 well before propriety software came about. It allowed its users to operate the software how they chose and also gave them access to the source code. A source code is instructions written in programming languages. It basically tells a computer how to do certain things. Open or free software programs include, gimpshop, open office, mozilla firefox, VLC and many many more.

What is interesting is that many of these programs run almost identical to the proprietary software of the same nature, in many cases even better, and it's FREE!

Taking an internet field trip....

Todays lecture and tutorial content surrounded the philosophy of virtual communities. I really enjoyed this lecture and the tutorial task as it allowed me to theorize using my knowledge in psychology to help understand the motives behind people using 3D environments.
In comparison to traditional communications over the internet i.e., msn and other IM programs I think that this offers a more realistic approach to communicating through the internet. By realistic I mean something that is more tangible than text. The individual using 3D programs creates an avatar that can either look like the person or something completely out of an individual's imagination, filling voids and fulfilling fantasies. Although the avatars still communicate via text, the supporting graphics which are basically everything you find in the real world and more, allow for individuals to escape the realities of life.
The video in the lecture suggested that 3D worlds can lead behavioural researchers like psychologists into new discoveries about human behaviour that due to ethical reasons was not possible in the real world. It may also come to be very useful for marketing teams that want to try a new product out on a virtual world before they present it to the real world.

Lecture Summary # 3

MEDIA, NEW MEDIA & SOCIAL MEDIA

• "Virtual communities: When people carry on discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling to form webs of personal relationships. " H Rheingold (1993).
• Ppl can experiment with being someone different to who they are now. When the internet first started to become popular it mainly consisted of text, people communicated through online "chatrooms." Turkle (1995) explained that virtual communities allow ppl to express themselves in a particular light that they find desirable.
• Initially virtual communities allowed ppl to meet ppl from other geographic locations that share similar interests. Now it is more ego-centred, a shift that saw the "self" as the focus of networking.
• The World Wide Web (Web 2.0): In 1993 the www was first introduced to the world.... in 1995 Australia first came to know about the www.
• Web 2.0 created a new way we think about and use the www. It introduced

1. Tags
2. The start of words being written in new and innovative ways i.e., flickr
3. User generated content: photos, images, videos, text. Henry Jenkins (2006) noted this shift as the "participatory culture."
4. Open API: meaning, sharing data openly between services on the internet i.e., facebook applications

• Social media:

1. Web blogs: vlogs, twitter, moblogs
2. Social network services: facebook, myspace
3. Content sharing communities: flickr, deviant.art, youtube, photobucket

The creation of this saw individuals feeling the need to join such sites to feel a sense of belonging as stars around the world conform.

• Attention economy: refers to the advertising sites like facebook use.
• Economy of accumulation: refers to how sites like facebook can use the information you give them and sell it for marketing. (Ppl agree to this right when they sign up to facebook).
• The lecture today raised the question "Are we consumers or creaters?" I believe the internet today allows us to be creators IF WE CHOOSE TO BE.

Tutorial Task Day # 3

1. What did Allan Turing wear while riding his bicycle around Bletchley Park?

http://www.historyarticles.com/new_page_5.htm A gas mask! Found using yahoo.

2. On what date did two computers first communicate with each other? Where were they?

http://www.web-friend.com/help/general/pc_history.html 1969, the computers were located in California and Utah. Found using yahoo.

3. What is Bill Gates' birthday? And what age was he when he first sold his software?

http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/bill-gates.htm He was born on the 28th October 1955. He sold his first piece of software in 1975. Found using yahoo.

4. Where was the World Wide Web invented?

http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/history/inventedwebwhere.html Switzerland. Found using yahoo.

5. How does the power of the computer you are working on now compare to the power of a personal computer from 30 years ago?

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/cpu/fam/g1I8088-c.html and http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=37148 In 1979 a computer's power was 8-bit 4.77MHz, today it is roughly 64-bit, 3.2 GHz. Found Using dogpile.

6. What is the weight of the largest parsnip ever grown?

http://www.portlincolntimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/holden-growing-more-giant-vegetables/1570577.aspx?src=rss 2.3 kg. Found using altavista.

7. When did Queensland become a state and why is the Tweed River in New South Wales?

http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/mapping/index.html In 1859 Queensland and New South Wales separated and Queensland became a state. Found using altavista. http://www.tweedstay.com/ The Tweed River is in New South Wales because it falls just over the border from Queensland. Found using yahoo.

8. What was the weather like in South East Queensland on the 17th November 1954?

http://weather.ninemsn.com.au/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=40284&list=ds&of=of_a&ot=ot_a&mm=11&yyyy=1954&submit=go Min = 19 degrees celsius Max = 39.5 degrees celsius with no rain. Found using yahoo.

9. Why is Lord Byron still remembered in Venice?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/byron_lord.shtml He wrote some of his most famous works in Venice, including Don Juan. Found using altavista.

10. What band did Sirhan Chapman play in and what is his real name?

http://web.revolutionrock.com.au/oral-hist/index.php?id=36 The Black Assassins. He did not want his real name published. Found using yahoo.

A little about me...

Write a post about how you use new communication technologies to communicate with your friends and family....
* How long have you been using these communication technologies?
I have been using new communication technologies for roughly 10 years.
* What influenced you to start using these particular technologies? How did you find out about them?
I first learnt about a computer and the internet when my next door neighbours first purchased one (they were particularly tech savvy). I remember it opened a world of knowledge and ways to communicate with others around the globe. The fact that I could talk to someone in Hong Kong, Paris, London etc. really excited me. I proposed the idea of getting a computer with the internet to my parents stating that it would really help me with my homework assignments.
* Is privacy an issue for you when using new technologies? What do you think of companies like Facebook and Google who collect information about their users? (How do you deal with issues around privacy?)
Privacy isn't really an issue for me when using new technologies, I have never uploaded anything that I wouldn't want someone else to know about (I'm not that stupid!).
* Do you have friends whom you know only from the internet and have never met in person? Is this different to people that you know in person? Describe the difference.
I have a rule.... to NEVER EVER accept a friend request from someone I don't know. Period.

This video summarises important key points on the history of the internet.

A Selective History of Computing and the Internet

Today's lecture was on the history of computing and the internet.
Following will be a brief summary of the main contents.....

The term computer referred to ppl who used to form mathematical equations. Teams of people would each work out small portions of the equation and then these portions would be put together to solve the whole equation. Basically it meant "forming mathematical calculations to certain rules and instructions."

• During this time (1700's), Charles Babbage invented counting machines to calculate large equations. Ada Byron helped create these contraptions, and ensured that they "worked."
• Allan Turning, an englishman, was involved in breaking the codes of enemies during World War I. The concept of artificial intelligence was strongly influenced by him also.
• In the 1970's IBM produced the first commercial computers..... with the help of Bill Gates of course! Bill Gates was responsible for creating the language of computers so that individuals would have a way that they could communicate with it and understand it. The first commercial computer's purpose were word processing, basic accounting and some games. Previously computers were only thought about for war purposes.
• A computer hacker was originally a computer expert. The term originated from the days computers were made from kits and the expert "hacked" them together.
• During the revolution of the IBM computer Apple were also creating computers for commercial use.... these geniuses went by the names of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
• THE INTERNET IS 40 YEARS OLD! (woah). When you think about it thats not very old.... but I can't imagine my life without the internet!
• Ray Tomlinson invented the email.... it's structure has not changed over the last 38 years.
• TCP/IP: the way computers "talk" to eachother. This was invented before military requested a way to communicate with eachother. The inventers of TCP/IP made a cultural decision to make TCP/IP free..... the internet would not be as huge as it is today without this decision.
• In 1979 the first online forum was created (Usenet).
• In 1982 emoticons were created...... allowing individuals to express themselves through the language of a computer.
• The internet and the world wide web are not the same! The internet is the whole spectrum of things that you can do on a computer e.g., filesharing, msn. The world wide web is one small part of the internet.... basically everything you see through a web browser.
• Cyberspace: aka the internet (represents the internet in abstract form). William Gibson wrote about computer networks in the 80's. He was a science fiction writer at the time.

Why I took this course.....

I enrolled in this course for three reasons:
1. To gain credit points to complete my psychology degree.
2. To keep up to date with new communication mediums.
3. It looks fun and I fancy myself as a bit of a blogger!

Introduction to New Communication Technologies

Today Adam introduced the course "New Communications Technologies" by asking the students to raise their hands to the various uses of the internet they participated in i.e., facebook, eBay, P2P etc. He then followed by outlining what was expected from the course and the various assessment items. The second half of the lecture introduced the basic themes "communication" and "technology" it concluded with a video of Jonathan Zittrain presenting a speech on the internet.