This is a blog about my teaching, research and service with some occasional personal comments thrown in. These are my notes on a variety of topics. If you want to follow my blog posts on a specific topic, then see the Table of Contents in the right-hand column. While I try to work in the realm of facts, logic and moral absolutes, if there are any opinions expressed here, they are my own. -WilliamHartPhD
How much do you know about the development of the Internet and the use of computers as communication tools?
What would a timeline (a list of events) look like for the development of the Internet as a communication tool?
Starting with the late 1960s, what new communication tools appeared on the Internet? Examples: What year did email first appear? What year did blogs appear?
Zuckerman gives a good timeline (or list) in his brief talk.
What would you add to this timeline for more recent years? See the evolution of social media for the rest of the timeline.
What does Friedman mean when he says the world is flat?
What are the 3 eras of globalization according to Friedman?
How does this connect with our earlier coverage of globalization?
Is Friedman right? Pankaj Ghemawat: Actually, the world isn't flat.
Key terms: globalization, social media, anti-globalization movement, What is globaloney? How is Ghemawat using the term?
In the past this term referred to an unrealistic foreign policy or global outlook. That fits Ghemawat's usage, but Ghemawat is more specific. How? See 'globaloney' definitions below.
Other than helping individuals to communicate, what grander social role does the Internet play?
For example, the Internet can be used to speak to power and cause social change. In the quote below McPhail notes the role blogs played in challenging power in 2002.
Quote originally taken from 2nd edition of Global Communication.
So, in the United States the Internet can be used to speak to power, but what about in other countries. For the Internet to play a strong role, there would need to be a substantial amount of Internet users in a country. What sort of growth is there for Internet use around the world? According to McPhail (2nd edition),
Quote originally taken from 2nd edition of Global Communication.
The 3rd edition of McPhail has some interesting, updated numbers. What changes do you note?
So, Internet use is certainly on the rise around the world, more so in some countries than in others.
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On the world stage, the Internet, specifically social media, has been credited with building revolutions in countries and bringing down dictators.
Take for example, protests in the former-Soviet republic of Moldova in 2009. It was called "Moldova’s Twitter Revolution."
More recently though, when one thinks of social media and revolution, one thinks of the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring is "a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010."
A Map of Arab Spring Countries
(Image used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, image created by Kwamikagami)
Countries highlighted in black are countries in which the government was overthrown. From left to right the countries are Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen. Countries highlighted in other colors are countries in which some protesting occurred.
For a sense of the role social media played in Tunisia, see the following news clip.
What exactly did social media do Tunisia? What was the role of social media?
Let's move from a specific example to a broader discussion about the role of social media has played in the Arab Spring. Some say that social media is insignificant and others say social media play a few important roles in revolution. What are both sides of the argument and what are the arguments on both sides. Why, for example, would some say "no, social media doesn't play a role"? To help answer these questions see the Zuckerman video below.
See specifically the presentation from 4:45 to 8:45 and the remainder if interested.
Note: Zuckerman is co-founded international blogging community Global Voices. Check it out of you are interested.
What makes Facebook or Twitter examples of social media? Is YouTube social media? What is social media?
"Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as 'a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.'" (Wikipedia).
So, Web 2.0 has something to do with social media. What is Web 2.0?
"The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design,[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumers) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumers) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies" (Wikipedia)
So, if this is Web 2.0, what was Web 1.0?
When did the Internet and the Web begin as communication tools?
Today we certainly use social media (e.g. Facebook and Snapchat) as a means of communicating with our family, friends and colleagues, however, wasn't the Internet used a communication tool before the advent of social media?
Starting with the late 1960s, what new communication tools appeared on the Internet? Examples: What year did email first appear? What year did blogs appear?
What makes Facebook or Twitter examples of social media? Is YouTube social media? What is social media?
"Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as 'a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.'" (Wikipedia).
So, Web 2.0 has something to do with social media. What is Web 2.0?
"The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design,[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumers) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumers) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies" (Wikipedia)
So, if this is Web 2.0, what was Web 1.0?
How did social media develop/evolve? What is the short history of social media?
Previously we have noted that when a person or a society adopts an innovations, there are consequences. What are some consequences of adopting social media based on recent research?
Now, let's shift gears, but stay with diffusion of innovations and social media. The adoption of social media has greatly increased in the past decade or so. People have adopted social media more quickly than any other past media technology (radio, TV, etc.). Why? What makes an innovation spread? What makes the rate of adoption increase? What are the key factors according to diffusion of innovation theory? What are the characteristics (or attributes) of an innovation that makes it quickly become adopted?
Specifically, what are the attributes of the innovation that make it spread?
How do these attributes of an innovation apply to the diffusion of social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc.?
---
The above diffusion of innovations concepts has been previously covered. Now, let's introduce a new diffusion of innovation concept, adopter categories. We'll then apply this new concept to your adoption of social media.
According to Rogers, there are five categories of adopters, five type of people who adopt an innovation.
Innovators - "Innovators are willing to take risks, have the highest social status, have financial liquidity, are social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Their risk tolerance allows them to adopt technologies that may ultimately fail. Financial resources help absorb these failures."
Early adopters - "These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the adopter categories. Early adopters have a higher social status, financial liquidity, advanced education and are more socially forward than late adopters. They are more discreet in adoption choices than innovators. They use judicious choice of adoption to help them maintain a central communication position."
Early Majority - "They adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time that is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters. Early Majority have above average social status, contact with early adopters and seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a system (Rogers 1962, p. 283)"
Late Majority - They adopt an innovation after the average participant. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation. Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below average social status, little financial liquidity, in contact with others in late majority and early majority and little opinion leadership.
Laggards - They are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership. These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents. Laggards typically tend to be focused on "traditions", lowest social status, lowest financial liquidity, oldest among adopters, and in contact with only family and close friends." (Wikipedia)
When it comes to your adoption of social media, which category did you fall into?
What does Friedman mean when he says the world is flat?
What are the 3 eras of globalization according to Friedman?
How does this connect with our earlier coverage of globalization?
Is Friedman right? Pankaj Ghemawat: Actually, the world isn't flat.
Key terms: globalization, social media, anti-globalization movement, What is globaloney? How is Ghemawat using the term?
In the past this term referred to an unrealistic foreign policy or global outlook. That fits Ghemawat's usage, but Ghemawat is more specific. How? See 'globaloney' definitions below.
Other than helping individuals to communicate, what grander social role does the Internet play?
For example, the Internet can be used to speak to power and cause social change. In the quote below McPhail notes the role blogs played in challenging power in 2002.
Quote originally taken from 2nd edition of Global Communication.
So, in the United States the Internet can be used to speak to power, but what about in other countries. For the Internet to play a strong role, there would need to be a substantial amount of Internet users in a country. What sort of growth is there for Internet use around the world? According to McPhail (2nd edition),
Quote originally taken from 2nd edition of Global Communication.
The 3rd edition of McPhail has some interesting, updated numbers. What changes do you note?
So, Internet use is certainly on the rise around the world, more so in some countries than in others.
------
On the world stage, the Internet, specifically social media, has been credited with building revolutions in countries and bringing down dictators.
Take for example, protests in the former-Soviet republic of Moldova in 2009. It was called "Moldova’s Twitter Revolution."
More recently though, when one thinks of social media and revolution, one thinks of the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring is "a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010."
A Map of Arab Spring Countries
(Image used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, image created by Kwamikagami)
Countries highlighted in black are countries in which the government was overthrown. From left to right the countries are Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen. Countries highlighted in other colors are countries in which some protesting occurred.
For a sense of the role social media played in Tunisia, see the following news clip.
What exactly did social media do Tunisia? What was the role of social media?
Let's move from a specific example to a broader discussion about the role of social media has played in the Arab Spring. Some say that social media is insignificant and others say social media play a few important roles in revolution. What are both sides of the argument and what are the arguments on both sides. Why, for example, would some say "no, social media doesn't play a role"? To help answer these questions see the Zuckerman video below.
See specifically the presentation from 4:45 to 8:45 and the remainder if interested.
Note: Zuckerman is co-founded international blogging community Global Voices. Check it out of you are interested.
In our coverage of the history of media, we've taken a biographical approach. We have studied some of the people especially relevant to the history of media. We have covered media scholars (and their media theories and related concepts). We have covered media technologists (and their media technologies).
We close our study of the history of media by looking at one last (and more recent) biography, that of Mark Zuckerberg (and Facebook).
How did Facebook come to be? What is Mark Zuckerberg's story?
Fact and Fiction
You might know some of the story from the 2010 film, The Social Network.
However, is the film based on the fact? What does Zuckerberg object to?
We began our discussion of the history of media with the beginnings of language and we end our discussion with some coverage of social media. What makes Facebook or Twitter examples of social media? Is YouTube social media? What is social media?
"Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as 'a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.'" (Wikipedia).
So, Web 2.0 has something to do with social media. What is Web 2.0?
"The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design,[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumers) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumers) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies" (Wikipedia)
So, if this is Web 2.0, what was Web 1.0?
How did social media develop/evolve? What is the short history of social media?
What makes Facebook or Twitter examples of social media? Is YouTube social media? What is social media?
"Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as 'a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.'" (Wikipedia).
So, Web 2.0 has something to do with social media. What is Web 2.0?
"The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design,[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumers) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumers) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies" (Wikipedia)
So, if this is Web 2.0, what was Web 1.0?
How did social media develop/evolve? What is the short history of social media?
What makes Facebook or Twitter examples of social media? Is YouTube social media? What is social media?
"Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as 'a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.'" (Wikipedia).
So, Web 2.0 has something to do with social media. What is Web 2.0?
"The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design,[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumers) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumers) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies" (Wikipedia)
So, if this is Web 2.0, what was Web 1.0?
How did social media develop/evolve? What is the short history of social media?
Previously we have noted that when a person or a society adopts an innovations, there are consequences. What are some consequences of adopting social media based on recent research?
Now, let's shift gears, but stay with diffusion of innovations and social media. The adoption of social media has greatly increased in the past decade or so. People have adopted social media more quickly than any other past media technology (radio, TV, etc.). Why? What makes an innovation spread? What makes the rate of adoption increase? What are the key factors according to diffusion of innovation theory? What are the characteristics (or attributes) of an innovation that makes it quickly become adopted?
Specifically, what are the attributes of the innovation that make it spread?
How do these attributes of an innovation apply to the diffusion of social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc.?
---
The above diffusion of innovations concepts has been previously covered. Now, let's introduce a new diffusion of innovation concept, adopter categories. We'll then apply this new concept to your adoption of social media.
According to Rogers, there are five categories of adopters, five type of people who adopt an innovation.
Innovators - "Innovators are willing to take risks, have the highest social status, have financial liquidity, are social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Their risk tolerance allows them to adopt technologies that may ultimately fail. Financial resources help absorb these failures."
Early adopters - "These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the adopter categories. Early adopters have a higher social status, financial liquidity, advanced education and are more socially forward than late adopters. They are more discreet in adoption choices than innovators. They use judicious choice of adoption to help them maintain a central communication position."
Early Majority - "They adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time that is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters. Early Majority have above average social status, contact with early adopters and seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a system (Rogers 1962, p. 283)"
Late Majority - They adopt an innovation after the average participant. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation. Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below average social status, little financial liquidity, in contact with others in late majority and early majority and little opinion leadership.
Laggards - They are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership. These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents. Laggards typically tend to be focused on "traditions", lowest social status, lowest financial liquidity, oldest among adopters, and in contact with only family and close friends." (Wikipedia)
When it comes to your adoption of social media, which category did you fall into?
What does Friedman mean when he says the world is flat?
What are the 3 eras of globalization according to Friedman?
How does this connect with our earlier coverage of globalization?
Is Friedman right? Pankaj Ghemawat: Actually, the world isn't flat.
Key terms: globalization, social media, anti-globalization movement, What is globaloney? How is Ghemawat using the term?
In the past this term referred to an unrealistic foreign policy or global outlook. That fits Ghemawat's usage, but Ghemawat is more specific. How? See 'globaloney' definitions below.
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by Ghemawat
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by Ghemawat
