Intersection of Communication Culture and Online Networking Short Paper
Write a 3-5 page paper considering any topic of interest to you that interrogates the intersection of communication, culture and online networking in the new media environment. You may choose the topic for this assignment from ideas raised in the course textbook or readings or from your personal curiosity. Consider news stories, current events, and other issues regarding the evolving digital landscape that have arisen as result of the increased use of new media technologies.
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Vincent Miller examines the concepts of surveillance and privacy in todays digital society and how in addition to the government, there are many individuals and organizations that are utilizing new technology to invade others privacy for personal gain, have greater control over their employees and gain insights into their customers (Miller, 2011). Social media has dramatically impacted the way we accept and understand the right to a private life. What was once a concept rooted in solitude and anonymity has now shifted into one of security and the use of commercial enterprise. After the surge of fear sparked by the 9/11 attacks, the ideas of surveillance changed, both legally and culturally. Agencies were given much more leeway to monitor individuals to reduce potential threats. Plus, many governments are passing data retention legislation so companies themselves are required to keep a long history of online activity that the government may access when needed (Miller, 2011). From a marketing standpoint, trading peoples personal information became a lucrative business and new legislation had to be put into place to protect individuals from companies misuse. However, there are many loopholes within these legal parameters. Overall, the new digital surveillance tools and tactics are geared towards tracing where people have been online and what they may have left behind, more than catching them in the act. Whether it be the use of a secret data collection system like Echelon, wireless wiretapping, gathering cookies, automated data mining, company email monitoring, keylogging, GPS, or roving bugs, there is a vast list of digital surveillance tools and methods to help different entities track us and learn our online behavior for personal, political and business agendas. As the ability to communicate across time and space continues to expand and diversify, the need for control of information will increase. Its the limiting of this control thats the primary concern. In our surveillance society, the line drawn between risk reduction and invading privacy is a thin one, and the way we draw it will continue to change with history and culture.
Miller also examines the history of identity and how the concept of it is constructed, originates in language, is contingent on context and circumstance, and is not stable but maintained. Building off this, he examines digital identity and new forms of self-representation available to us. Early online advances made it possible to both play with ones identity and still showcase ones persona on individualized platforms (personal profiles). Today, our online environments are based more on images than text descriptions, which relates to Reeds chapter on digital desire. On pages 111-112 Reed talks about how pornography can give a false sense of what real sex should be like. Since pornography is giving this false sense, it leaves people with unrealistic offline visions of what this interaction with another person is going to be like, ultimately leaving them unsatisfied. Aside from the pornography though, online tools do allow us to enhance our online selves and our identities. Reed talks about how the immense amount of information on sex there is on the web and how it provides great sex education. With this information people can become more confident in their sexuality and sex itself.
Whether we are in search of intimacy, friendship, or a sense of community, we now share more of ourselves with more people on a daily basis, and its clear that this will have a long-lasting effect on our descriptive creativity and whats considered an acceptable online identity. Its also clear that that some of our activity online is starting to influence the way we perceive our lives offline. Our definitions and expectations of privacy, identity, and cultural influence will continue to change over time so as communicators, it is important to be mindful of how we personally control the flow of information and ideas.
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