Transcript comm2p91Jan11x

Reminder:
 Course syllabus
› Not printed/handed out
– emailed
› Available on Sakai too
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Lecture
Presentations start
next week
Groups – get
contact info!
We Randomly chose
topics last week
Are you signed up?
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Social means relating to human society
and its members, living together or
tending to move together in groups or
colonies. In psychological terms, it is used
to denote the behaviour of groups and
influencing factors for individuals.
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Abraham Maslow
(1943): Hierarchy of
Needs
› Humans have social
needs & need to feel
like they belong
› Friendship, family,
intimacy important
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“Social media includes web-based and
mobile technologies used to turn
communication into interactive
dialogue.” (Wikipedia)
Social Media in Plain English
http://bit.ly/zbsd1K
Web 1.0: 1990-2000
The Flat Web
1999 early innovators –
changes starting
Web 2.0: 2001-2008(ish)
The Interactive Web
Evolution Web 1.0, Web 2.0 to Web 3.0
http://bit.ly/zDr7C8
http://bit.ly/1lV5Nlf
http://bit.ly/1dpPrzf
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Theories of Communication
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http://www.afirstlook.com/edition_7/theory_list
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Theories about our relationship with
technologies – ICTs (Information &
Communication Technologies).
http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/mass/mass2.html
Two-Step Flow Theory
(Lazarsfeld et al 1944)
 Influence of media
messages
 Media moves in two
distinct stages
 Opinion leaders pass
on their
interpretations +
media message
Spiral of Silence
(Neumann 1974)
 How public opinion
is formed
 People tend to
remain silent when
they feel their views
are in the minority
Agenda Setting Theory
(Lippman 1922)
 Creating what the
public thinks is
important
 Media filter/shape
reality; concentrate
on select issues
What can we say about these theories in
light of social media?
 How has social media challenged how
we have traditionally theorized
communication processes?
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Technological Determinism
 Social Determinism
 Actor-Network Theory
 Social Construction of Technology
 Social Shaping of Technology
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technology
develops by its own
laws, that it realizes
its own potential,
limited only by the
resources available
regarded as an
autonomous system
controlling &
ultimately
permeating all other
subsystems of society
who we are is determined by the tools we invent and use
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the printing press,
radio and TV—created
new “spaces” for
humans to inhabit &
exist in - mentally &
physically
as people adapted to
these new spaces,
they changed: they
evolved.
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Considers technology
‘neutral’ & ‘objective’
› cell phone can be
used to trigger carbombs or call an
ambulance.
large-scale social structures almost
entirely determine technology, for
example that capitalist society leads to
technology that serves capitalists
 this approach assumes that the only way
to change technologies is to change the
fundamentals of social structure
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Society & technology not oppositional
 ANT Fits in between these two
deterministic frameworks
 Gives people agency - they’re active
 Looks at rel’n between technology
(material) and meaning (semiotic)
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Technology doesn’t shape people’s
actions, people’s actions shape the
technology (innovation/integration)
 Need to understand the social context of
technological use/integration
 Interpretative Flexibility: each
technological artifact has different
meanings & interpretations for various
groups
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Low Bridges - Robert Moses –
New York
 prevented the 12ft high
buses from passing
underneath & hence
prevented those relying on
public transport, especially
African Americans & poor
people, from easily visiting
beaches
 Social values (racism) can
be built into artifacts
(bridges)
focuses on influences
of technology &
leaves out the effects
of technology
 Need to look at the
ways that society &
technology co-shape
each other – the
relationship
 Consider the
implications of this
relationship
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the influence of the
social & technological
context of development,
which shapes choices
the relationship between
technology & society is
one of ‘mutual shaping’
Social practices in
various contexts shape
use & integration in
different ways
Contexts & Practices
 Work
 Home
 School
 Any/Everywhere
>Mobility
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Intended to replace
telegraph & electrical
telegraph – military roots
Women shape landline
integration in the home
Framed by their domestic
role – gendered practices
Empowering tool to
overcome isolation
Within these contexts
there are social
practices
 These are framed by
social stratifications:
gender,
race/ethnicity, class
etc
 Keep this mind as we
move forward
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Network Theory
(Barnes 1954)
 How relationships
influence behaviour
 Map relationships
between people &
exchange of social
& cultural capital
 More of this next
week
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CMC – Computer
Mediated
Communication
How have
communication
practices evolved &
developed with social
technologies?
How do you express
yourself when you
communicate online?
:-) Smiling or happy
:-( Sad
:,( Crying
;) Wink
:-&
Tongue Tied
:-X Lips are sealed
:-o Shocked
:D Laughter
:I Hmmmm
IMHO - in my humble opinion
IOW - in other words
FYI - for your information
TNK - thanks
ROFL - rolling on the floor laughing
RTFM - read the f***ing manual
Note: TYPING IN CAPITAL LETTERS GIVES THE
IMPRESSIONS THAT YOU ARE YELLING!
(fyi -we used some of these with the telegraph!)
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Us Now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3PQaTyoLRc
a documentary film project "about the
power of mass collaboration, the
government and the Internet“. The New
York Times describes it as a film which
"paints a future in which every citizen is
connected to the state as easily as to
Facebook, choosing policies,
questioning politicians, collaborating
with neighbours.
(wikipedia)
Tweet thoughts/responses