Catanduanes State University

COLLEGE OF INFORMATION AND

COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
Virac, Catanduanes

LEARNING MATERIALS AND COMPILATION OF

LECTURES/ACTIVITIES

GEC3
LIVING IN THE I.T. ERA
 D ISC L AIM ER

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College of Information and Communications Technology

 C H APTER 5: D AR K SID E OF TH E INT E R N ET

LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Differentiate the utopian and dystopian views of the internet;
2. Determine the rate of progress of acceleration in media and information;
3. Define the causes and effects of internet addiction and isolation; and
4. Distinguish the impact of selective exposure on political polarization.

KEY TERMS
1. Utopia
2. Dystopia
3. Internet invariants
4. Media messages
5. Internet addiction
6. Selective exposure
7. Political polarization
 L E S S O N 2 : M E D I A A C C E L E R A T I O N AN D I N F O R M AT I O N

2.1 What Does Media Do for Us?

Media fulfills several basic roles in our society. One obvious role is entertainment. Media can act as a
springboard for our imaginations, a source of fantasy, and an outlet for escapism. Through bringing us
stories of all kinds – whether it be televenovelas, showbiz bits or political controversy – media has the
power to take us away from ourselves.

Media can also provide information and education. As you learned from Chapter 3, Information can
come in many forms – whether it be print media or broadcast media, and it may sometimes be difficult
to separate from entertainment. Today, newspapers and news-oriented television and radio programs
make available stories from across the globe, allowing readers or viewers as remote as the islanders
of Catanduanes to access voices and videos from say London, Netherlands, Tokyo, or USA. Books and
magazines provide a more in-depth look at a wide range of subjects. The free online
encyclopedia Wikipedia has articles on topics from presidential nicknames to child prodigies to tongue
twisters in various languages. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has posted free lecture
notes, exams, and audio and video recordings of classes on its OpenCourseWare website, allowing
anyone with an Internet connection access to world-class professors.

Another useful aspect of media is its ability to act as a public forum for the discussion of important
issues. In newspapers or other periodicals, letters to the editor allow readers to respond to journalists
or to voice their opinions on the issues of the day. The Internet is a fundamentally democratic medium
that allows everyone who can get online the ability to express their opinions through, for example,
blogging or podcasting—though whether anyone will hear is another question.

Similarly, media can be used to monitor government, business, and other institutions.

It’s important to remember, though, that not all media are created equal. While some forms of mass
communication are better suited to entertainment, others make more sense as a venue for spreading
information. In terms of print media, books are durable and able to contain lots of information, but are
relatively slow and expensive to produce; in contrast, newspapers are comparatively cheaper and
quicker to create, making them a better medium for the quick turnover of daily news. Television provides
vastly more visual information than radio and is more dynamic than a static printed page; it can also be
used to broadcast live events to a nationwide audience, as in the annual State of the Nation address
given by the PH president. However, it is also a one-way medium—that is, it allows for very little direct
person-to-person communication.

In contrast, the Internet encourages public discussion of issues and allows nearly everyone who wants
a voice to have one. However, the Internet is also largely unmoderated. Users may have to wade
through thousands of insubstantial comments or misinformed amateur opinions to find quality
information.

2.2 Mass Media and Its Messages

When media consumers think of media messages, they may think of televised public service
announcements or political advertisements. These obvious examples provide a venue for the transfer
of a message through a medium, whether that message is a plea for fire safety or the statement of a
political position. But what about more abstract political advertisements that simply show the logo of a
candidate and a few simple words? Media messages can range from overt statements to vague
expressions of cultural values.

Disagreements over the content of media messages certainly exist. Consider the common allegations
of political bias against various news organizations. Accusations of hidden messages or agenda-driven
content have always been an issue in the media, but as the presence of media grows, the debate
concerning media messages increases. This dialogue is an important one; after all, mass media have
long been used to persuade. Many modern persuasive techniques stem from the use of media as a
propaganda tool. The role of propaganda and persuasion in the mass media is a good place to start
when considering various types of media effects.

2.2.1 Cultural Messages and the Media

The media sends messages that reinforce cultural values. These values are perhaps most visible in
celebrities and the roles that they adopt.

Although many consider celebrity culture superficial and a poor reflection of a country’s values, not all
celebrities are simply entertainers. Civil rights leaders, social reformers, and other famous public figures
have come to represent important cultural accomplishments and advancements through their
representations in the media. When images of Cory Aquino or Ferdinand Marcos appear in the media,
they resonate with cultural and historical themes greatly separated from mere fame.

Celebrities can also reinforce cultural stereotypes that marginalize certain groups. Television and
magazines from the mid-20th century often portrayed women in a submissive, domestic role, both
reflecting and reinforcing the cultural limitations imposed on women at the time.

Whether actual or fictional, celebrities and their assumed roles send a number of different messages
about cultural values. They can promote courageous truth telling, hide and prolong social problems, or
provide a concrete example of an abstract cultural value.

2.2.2 New Media and Society

New media—the Internet and other digital forms of communication—have had a large effect on society.
This communication and information revolution has created a great deal of anguish about digital literacy
and other issues that inevitably accompany such a social change. In his book on technology and
communication, A Better Pencil, Dennis Baron makes the point that all communication revolutions have
created upheavals and have changed the standards of literacy and communication. This historical
perspective gives a positive interpretation to some otherwise ominous developments in communication
and culture.

2.2.3 Information
The Internet has made an incredible amount of new information available to the general public. Both
this wealth of information and the ways people process it are having an enormous effect on culture.
New perceptions of information have emerged as access to it grows. Older-media consumption habits
required in-depth processing of information through a particular form of media. For example, consumers
read, watched, or viewed a news report in its entirety, typically within the context of a news publication
or program. Fiction appeared in book or magazine form.

Today, information is easier to access, thus more likely to traverse several forms of media. An
individual may read an article on a news website and then forward part of it to a friend. That person in
turn describes it to a coworker without having seen the original context. The ready availability of
information through search engines may explain how a clearly satirical Onion article on the Harry
Potter phenomenon came to be taken as fact. Increasingly, media outlets cater to this habit of searching
for specific bits of information devoid of context. Information that will attract the most attention is often
featured at the expense of more important stories. At one point on March 11, 2010, for example, The
Washington Post website’s most popular story was “Maintaining a Sex Life.”

Another important development in the media’s approach to information is its increasing subjectivity.
Some analysts have used the term cyberbalkanization to describe the way media consumers filter
information. Balkanization is an allusion to the political fragmentation of Eastern Europe’s Balkan states
following World War I, when the Ottoman Empire disintegrated into a number of ethnic and political
fragments. Customized news feeds allow individuals to receive only the kinds of news and information
they want and thus block out sources that report unwanted stories or perspectives. Many cultural critics
have pointed to this kind of information filtering as the source of increasing political division and resulting
loss of civic discourse. When media consumers hear only the information they want to, the common
ground of public discourse that stems from general agreement on certain principles inevitably grows
smaller.

2.2.4 Literacy
On one hand, the growth of the Internet as the primary information source exposes the public to
increased levels of text, thereby increasing overall literacy. Indeed, written text is essential to the
Internet: Web content is overwhelmingly text-based, and successful participation in Internet culture
through the use of blogs, forums, or a personal website requires a degree of textual literacy that is not
necessary for engagement in television, music, or movies.

Critics of Internet literacy, however, describe the majority of forum and blog posts as subliterate, and
argue that the Internet has replaced the printed newspapers and books that actually raised the
standards of literacy. One nuanced look at the Internet’s effect on the way a culture processes and
perceives information states that literacy will not simply increase or decrease, but will change
qualitatively. Perhaps the standards for literacy will shift to an emphasis on simplicity and directness,
for example, rather than on elaborate uses of language.

2.2.5 Convergence Culture

The term convergence can hold several different meanings. In his book Convergence Culture: Where
Old and New Media Collide, Henry Jenkins offers a useful definition of convergence as it applies to new
media:

“By convergence, I mean the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the
cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of
media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of
entertainment experiences they want (Jenkins, 2006).”

A self-produced video on the YouTube website that gains enormous popularity and thus receives the
attention of a news outlet is a good example of this migration of both content and audiences. Consider
this flow: The video appears and gains notoriety, so a news outlet broadcasts a story about the video,
which in turn increases its popularity on YouTube. This migration works in a number of ways. Humorous
or poignant excerpts from television or radio broadcasts are often posted on social media sites and
blogs, where they gain popularity and are seen by more people than had seen the original broadcast.

Thanks to new media, consumers now view all types of media as participatory. For example, the
massively popular talent show American Idol combines an older-media format—television—with
modern media consumption patterns by allowing the home audience to vote for a favorite contestant.
However, American Idol segments regularly appear on YouTube and other websites, where people who
may never have seen the show comment on and dissect them. Phone companies report a regular
increase in phone traffic following the show, presumably caused by viewers calling in to cast their votes
or simply to discuss the program with friends and family. As a result, more people are exposed to the
themes, principles, and culture of American Idol than the number of people who actually watch the show
(Jenkins, 2006).

New media have encouraged greater personal participation in media as a whole. Although the long-
term cultural consequences of this shift cannot yet be assessed, the development is undeniably a novel
one. As audiences become more adept at navigating media, this trend will undoubtedly increase.
2.3 Information: The Downside of Too Much of It
The ability to compute, communicate, and store information is at the heart of the information revolution.
Yet with the rapid advance of technology and its impact on not only business, but society, politics and
the economy: What would a world with too much information look like? And what problems would it
create? Here are four likely problems:

1. Paralysis through Analysis.

In a world of ubiquitous information, there is always more out there. Information gathering is
easy, and often quite enjoyable as well. My students frequently complain that they need more
information before coming to a view on a difficult case-study decision. Many corporate decisions
are delayed because of the need for further analysis. Whether due to the complexity of the
decision in front of them, or because of the fear of not performing sufficient due diligence, the
easy option facing any executive is simply to request more information.

2. Easy access to data makes us intellectually lazy.

Many firms have invested a lot of money in “big data” and sophisticated data-crunching
techniques. But a data-driven approach to analysis has a couple of big flaws. First, the bigger
the database, the easier it is to find support for any hypothesis you choose to test. Second, big
data makes us lazy – we allow rapid processing power to substitute for thinking and judgment.
One example: pharmaceutical companies fell in love with “high throughput screening”
techniques in the 1990s, as a way of testing out all possible molecular combinations to match
a target. It was a bust. Most have now moved back towards a more rational model based around
deep understanding, experience and intuition.

3. Impulsive and Flighty Consumers

Watch how your fellow commuters juggle their smartphone, tablet and Kindle. Or marvel at your
teenager doing his homework. With multiple sources of stimulation available at our fingertips,
the capacity to focus and concentrate on a specific activity is falling. This has implications for
how firms manage their internal processes – with much greater emphasis being placed on
holding people’s attention than before. It also has massive consequences for how firms manage
their consumer relationships, as the traditional sources of “stickiness” in those relationships are
being eroded.

4. A little learning is a dangerous thing

We are quick to access information that helps us, but we often lack the ability to make sense
of it, or to use it appropriately. Doctors encounter this problem on a daily basis, as patients
show up with (often incorrect) self-diagnoses. Senior executives second-guess their
subordinates because their corporate IT system gives them line-of-sight down to detailed plant-
level data. We also see this at a societal level: people believe they have the right to information
that is in the public interest (think Wikileaks), but they are rarely capable of interpreting and
using it in a sensible way. The broader point here is that the democratization of information
creates an imbalance between the “top” and “bottom” of society, and most firms are not good
at coping with this shift.

2.3.1 Consequences
So what are the consequences of a world with “too much information”?

At an individual level:

1. We become obsessed with getting to the bottom of a problem, and we keep on digging,
desperate to find the truth but taking forever to do so.

2. We become overwhelmed with the amount of information out there and we give up: we realize
we cannot actually master the issue at hand, and we end up falling back on a pre-existing
belief.
For firms:

1. They have to become masters of “attention management” — making sure that people are
focused on the right set of issues, and not distracted by the dozens of equally-interesting issues
that could be discussed. A surplus of information, as Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon noted,
creates a deficit of attention. That is the real scarce resource today.

2. Firms have to get the right balance between information and judgment in making important
decisions. As Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, observed, there are two types of
decisions: “There are decisions that can be made by analysis. These are the best kind of
decisions. They are fact-based decisions that overrule the hierarchy. Unfortunately there’s this
whole other set of decisions you can’t boil down to a math problem.” One of the hallmarks of
Amazon’s success, arguably, has been its capacity to make the big calls based on judgement
and intuition.

3. The ubiquity of information means a careful balance is needed when it comes to sharing.
Keeping everything secret isn’t going to work anymore — but pure transparency has its risks
as well. Firms have to become smarter at figuring out what information to share with their
employees, and what consumer information to keep track of for their own benefits.

For the last forty years, firms have built their competitive positions on harnessing information and
knowledge more effectively than others. But with information now ubiquitous and increasingly shared
across firms, these traditional sources of advantage are simply table-stakes. The most successful
companies in the future will be smart about scanning for information and accessing the knowledge of
their employees, but they will favour action over analysis, and they will harness the intuition and gut-
feeling of their employees in combination with rational analysis.

2.4 Effects of the Information Age in Our Being

There is evidence that we are becoming over dependent, or even possibly addicted, to the internet.
Recent research has shown that some people experience significant stress and anxiety when they are
separated from their phones and can even exhibit withdrawal like symptoms, comparable to those
usually seen when someone has an addiction. Some research has even shown that high levels of
engagement with smartphones and multimedia technology may be physically changing our brain
structure and function.

So, what is it about the internet that is making many of us anxious and stressed? Here are the top 5
stressors:

1. Perpetual Distraction
2. Sleep Dysregulation
3. Work/Life Balance
4. F.O.M.O.
5. Social Comparison