Flavors of the Internet

In Frances Caincross's book The Death of Distance, Caincross devotes a chapter titled "The Communications Revolution" that delves into the nature of the ever-changing world of communication technology and the potential societal changes that may come from such change. The book was written in 1980; at the time, he was examining the ramifications of distance communication and how telephones, televisions, and the burgeoning Network computer would affect society. In spite of being 4 years from the birth of the personal computer, and 27 years from the first iPhone,  his "Trendspotter's Guide to New Communication" makes some fascinating and accurate assertions that came to fruition. 

In order to understand Caincross's projections and see if he was truly clairvoyant (ha), it's important we investigate NCTs in the present and get a sense for where technology has taken us. The most prescient, important, utilized and scrutinized form of new communication technology today is the Internet. What began as an internetwork of computers at a university in the late 1960s has blossomed into a communication platform that the majority of the world depends on for daily livelihood and commerce (Gromov, 1995) As the platform has progressed, the Internet has taken on various characteristics of content that authors Straubbar, LaRose and Davenport describe in Media Now as the "genres" within the World Wide Web (268). 

The Internet, in its complexity and nearly-infinite capacity, delves in to many variations of content; a mere Google search (a part of the “Search Engine” genre) will render almost any subject millions of possibilities, and, in some cases, billions. Part of the wonderment of the Internet is its sheer vastness and its immense accessibility, and the fact that almost every individual who engages with it can customize the experience and explore the globe through their screen and keyboard. Although the new communication technology has a notable breadth to its resources, Media Now identifies 8 broad overarching principles that cover many broad topics within the online community: Electronic Publishing, Entertainment, Online Games, Portals, Search Engines, Social Media, Blogs, and Electronic Commerce.

I’d love to investigate all 8 subject matters, but for the purpose of this blog, I will concentrate on the two genres: Entertainment and Social Media. Both of these areas of interest have brought about a lot of change in their own right, both in how they’ve come to exist in the Internet age and their ability to upset the status quo of traditional standards.

We’ll take a closer look in the next blog go-‘round, stay tuned!