Sociology - Paper 4 - 1.3 - The impact of the new media

What is the Neophiliac view of New Media?

Neophiliacs are digital optimists who argue that new media is a liberating force that democratizes power, increases consumer choice, and revitalizes democracy through "bottom-up" participation.

What is the Cultural Pessimist view of New Media?

Cultural pessimists argue that new media is a threat that reinforces elite power through surveillance, creates social polarization via echo chambers, and spreads Western cultural imperialism.

How does New Media impact democracy according to Neophiliacs?

It allows citizens to bypass traditional "gatekeepers," enabling "digital democracy" where social movements like #BlackLivesMatter or the Arab Spring can organize and expose corruption.

What is the "Echo Chamber" effect?

A phenomenon where social media algorithms show users information that only confirms their existing biases, leading to extreme political polarization and the "death of expertise."

Explain "Surveillance Capitalism" (Shoshana Zuboff).

The process where powerful tech companies and states harvest user data to monitor dissent, predict human behavior, and manipulate consumer or political choices.

What is Marshall McLuhan’s "Global Village"?

The idea that electronic media collapses time and space, bringing people together instantaneously and allowing for the sharing of diverse cultures and hybrid identities.

How does David Harvey describe "Time-Space Compression"?

The process where digitalization allows for the real-time flow of data across the globe, making distance irrelevant and allowing the global economy to operate 24/7.

What is "Cultural Imperialism" in the digital age?

The spread of Western (primarily American) consumerist values by a few tech giants like Meta and Google, which can crush local traditions and languages—a process called "McDonaldization."

What does it mean to be a "Prosumer" (Alvin Toffler)?

A shift where the audience is no longer passive; users both produce and consume content, curating their own online personas and creating counter-narratives.

Explain Jean Baudrillard’s concept of "Hyperreality."

The idea that digital identities and representations become more "real" than our physical lives, where our self-worth is dictated by images on a screen rather than physical reality.

What is the "Long Tail" effect in the new economy?

A shift where e-commerce allows for infinite consumer choice, as businesses can profit from selling small volumes of niche products globally rather than just popular "blockbusters."

How does the "Gig Economy" impact workers?

Platforms like Uber provide "flexibility" but create "precarity," where workers lose the stability, benefits, and legal protections associated with traditional employment.

What is the "Digital Divide"?

A form of social inequality where certain groups—the poor, the elderly, or those in the Global South—lack the infrastructure or skills to access new media, becoming a "digital underclass."

How does New Media aid "Transnationalism"?

It allows migrants to maintain daily contact with their families via apps like WhatsApp, creating "diasporic identities" where people feel they belong to multiple nations at once.

What is Barry Wellman’s "Networked Individualism"?

The shift from tight-knit local groups to personal global networks where individuals have many "weak ties" (acquaintances) that provide information but potentially less emotional support.

Explain Sherry Turkle’s "Alone Together" thesis.

The argument that new media makes us "tethered" to devices, leading to a decline in empathy because digital connection is a poor substitute for genuine human conversation.