media effects on society exam 1

excused absences

3 excused, no drs note needed

late work

works due at 5, late =25%, 25% every hour

piazza

where you post course questions instead of email

systemic bias

models can reproduce and amplify existing social biases

the environment

large models have energy costs

learning and retention

offloading your thinking can erode what you actually learn

your credibility

your accountable for what you put your name on

information society

a society where creating and sharing information is the main economic activity

• the economy relies on production and consumption

  • all info industries go digital

when did the US turn into an info society?

1960

information worker

a person who creates, processes, transforms or stores information

• writers, coders, analysts

pre-agricultural stage

• hunting and gathering

  • small groups, relied on spoken words and songs to communicate

  • shamans and storytellers spread the news

    • oral traditions— fairytales, songs = media

agricultural stage

• farming

  • agricultural societies were more settled and complex than pre ag

  • the ancient sumerians create writing around 3100 BCE

  • literacy was limited to priests and upper classes

  • chinese develop printing

    • long oral messages and scribes, printing = media

industrial stage

• manufacturing

  • gutenbergs press led to mass copying

  • presses created mass production of books, newspapers, and magazines

  • the industrial revolution led to mass manufacturing

    • film, radio, tv, newspaper, books = ind. society media

information stage

• creating and processing information

  • information work starts to dominate the workforce

  • the economy relies on information production and consumption

  • computers dominate

  • all info industries go digital

    • computers, internet, phones = information media

after info. society stage

• remote and AI assisted work

  • decentralized work

  • AI and jobs

  • threats to education

  • AI in media

  • generative AI, algorithms, deepfakes = media

analog signals

continuous signals that physically represent the original sound or light

• think sound waves spreading info

• exs: records, tapes, radio

digital signals

discrete signals that represent information using binary numbers (1s and 0s)

• converts information into numerical data that computer processes

• exs: spotify, digital cameras, streaming

convergence

different media (txt, audio, video) coming together in one digital channel or device

• ex: AI app that writes, makes images, and talks

(SMCR) Source

starts the communication and encodes the message

• ex) TV network, radio station

(SMCR) message

the content being sent

• ex) words, sounds, moving images

(SMCR) channel

the system that carries the message

• ex) broadcast transmitter

(SMCR) receiver

decodes and gets the message

• ex) viewer, listener

feedback

controls the flow of communication

• if their message was understood

  • influences what sender does next

noise

distorts the message

• interferes with a message being transmitted or understood correctly

intrapersonal comm

talking to yourself

interpersonal comm

comm between 2 people

small group comm

fewer than a dozen people

large group comm

dozens to thousand

digital interpersonal comm

texts, DMs, email

mass personal comm

personal messages seen by many

many to one comm

many people to one source

many to many comm

everyone talks to everyobne

web 2.0 comm

users make content and consume it

human machine comm

talking with AI

new media

media that are digital, interactive, social, asynchronous, multimedia, and narrowcasted (targeted to one audience)

• ex) FYP - narrowcasted

telecommunications act (1996)

law that reduced government restrictions on media companies, allowing large corporations to own more radio and media outlets

• deregulated the comm media

net neutrality (2025)

idea that internet providers must treat all online content equally, without bloacking, slowing, or favoring certain websites

take it down act (2025)

law that makes it a federal crime to share intimate images without consent, including AI deepfakes

computers as social actors (CASA)

people treat talking computers like people, even when they know its a machine

• ex) saying thank you to a chatbot

parasocial relationship

a one sided bond with a media figure

• ex) feeling close to a favorite streamer