What are the social effects of using internet terminology?

Answer 1

What are the effects of using the internet as source of information? Yahoo! Research welcomed Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Chair professor of communication technology and society at USC, as the third Big Thinker of 2008 to speak at its Mission College campus. Castells is also research professor of information society at the Open University of Catalonia in Barcelona. Castells addressed the relationship between the Internet and society, and how the Internet has become the revolutionary communication technology of our time after a history of enormous change. According to Castells, history shows that "people use technology that fits into what they are" - that people use technology to accommodate their lives, their needs, their interests, etc. But even with a 40 year history, Castells explained that there are widespread misperceptions of the Internet - in practice and social uses. He blames ideology, futurology, and media sensationalism. "Media sensationalism is responsible because it always picks up on bad news," he says. Castells also talked about the digital divide - the gap between those with access to technology and those without - and the three forms in which it exists: access, broadband and being in the Internet. "Once you're in, educational and cultural resources become amplified," he explains. "When introduced in the classroom environment, learning is accelerated, while children who are culturally deprived don't have the educational resources, so there is a disconnect." Several studies completed in Catalonia displayed the social effects of the Internet. "The Internet is an extension of life," says Castells. Fifty percent of the subjects were adult Internet users, and fifty percent were non-users. The study compared the effects of Internet use on people's lives. The study drew the conclusion that people would not change their lives to use the Internet. Rather, they would include it for work, study, social needs, shopping, music, etc. Those under the age of 30 were found to be multi-taskers - juggling Internet use with activities such as cell phone use, music, and television. "The Internet does not isolate users, nor does it depress or alienate," according to Castells. "The more you use the Internet, the more social you are offline. The Internet adds, rather than subtracts, sociability." Castells' conclusion was clear: Internet "is" society. "To understand how to develop new (technology), we have to understand society," he says. "Users 'are' the producers of the technology." His recommendation is making the engineering and design process as open as possible "for free." "This will change the world. People will absorb technology for themselves, in a more autonomous society."