Unit 2: Digital Society

Why are “Digital Society,” “Post-Industrial Society,” and “Information Society” discussed together?

They share core components—information, interaction, technology, people

“Service and information jobs” belongs to which label?

Information Society.

“Focus on business and politics” belongs to which label?

Post-Industrial Society.

“Ever-present media” belongs to which label?

Era of Mediatization.

“Increased symbolic complexity” belongs to which label?

Post-Modernity.

“Ubiquitous/no longer new technology” belongs to which label?

Post-Digital State.

How does the textbook define theories?

As “a set of concepts.”

Traditionally, media are channels. In this perspective, media are seen as what?

Environments for social interaction.

What is the relationship between media and languages?

Media can create new languages (visual, digital, or vocabulary-based).

According to McLuhan, what was the most crucial transformation of social behavior?

The invention of writing, which separated thought and action.

Do media shape people, or do people shape media?

Both—there is reciprocal shaping.

What is binary, and what does “1” mean?

Binary is a base-2 system (0 and 1). “1” means electricity is on.

Who was the first computer programmer?

Ada Lovelace.

Why did new forms of production and community arise in the Information Society?

Because of the convergence of telecommunications and computer technology.

Define narrowcasting.

Targeting specific niche audiences with messages designed just for them.

What are the two features of Digital Society?

(1) Individuals piece together daily media flows. (2) Digital media compress time and space.

What is the “control revolution,” and to what is it likened?

Using rapid technological change to collect, store, process, and communicate information; likened to big data.

What value label does the author give to “digital society”?

Neutral

1959: What network did Paul Baran design?

A decentralized network resistant to disruption.

Define packet switching.

Breaking messages into small packets, sending them via different routes, and reassembling them at the destination.

1969: What was ARPAnet?

The beginning of the Internet; connected four university computers.

1993: What was Mosaic?

The first publicly available web browser.

In the 1990s, why was the internet described as having an “aura of magic”?

It was seen as a force for positive global change, democratization, and innovation.

More recently, what concerns dominate public views of the internet?

Disinformation, intellectual property, and politics.

What are the two types of embeddedness?

Sensorial (linked to our senses) and symbolic (rules, codes, conventions).

What is a “produser”?

A user who is simultaneously a producer of content.

Define remediation.

When new media refashion or incorporate older media forms.

Define immediacy.

Media striving for a transparent, unmediated experience.

Define hypermediacy.

Awareness of multiple layers of media and mediation.

Define media logic.

The norms and strategies media use to present and frame content.

What is the difference between the post-digital state and deep mediatization?

Post-digital = tech so ubiquitous it’s unnoticed. Deep mediatization = tech deeply structures all areas of life.

Define mediatization.

The process by which media become deeply integrated into all aspects of society.