Media and Society: Critical Perspectives - Assignment Example

Question 4: New ICTs have dramatically altered the ways in which citizens communicate, collaborate and engage with information. Critically discuss this statement Introduction Information Communication Technology (ICT) refers to various methods, concepts, tools and applications that use digital technology to enable people and organizations access, store, retrieve, manipulate, and use information (Berger, 2012, pp. 15). ICT has evolved over the years from influencing how governments, large businesses and scientists use data to being an important element of communication among individuals. ICT not only influences channels of communication but also the type of information that individuals share. ICT is therefore important element in understanding the relationship between media and citizens. New ICT has led to growth of new forms of media based on a digital framework that allows individuals to access information at anytime from anywhere through new ICT equipment (Berger, 2012, pp. 23). This essay will discuss the impact of new ICT on how individuals communicate and engage with information. This paper will endeavor to analyze various types of new ICT; how they have altered the way people access information, and how they use the information. Communication refers to how individuals share information. Individuals can also collaborate and engage with information by responding to different types of information. Collaborating and engaging with information refers to the way people use information to achieve their own desired goals and objectives. Initially, people could only access information from books, magazines, newspapers, films, television, radio, and photography. These media channels are referred to as traditional media. With traditional media, information was left in the hands of a few people who had the tools and resources to produce such information to the public. These individuals and organizations determined what type of information to feed the public, as well as determining how the public could use the information. In this kind of framework, media played a very special role in the society with regard to controlling information (Burton, 2010, pp. 56). People had difficulties in accessing information in most cases and could only rely on information from trusted media channels. Developments in ICT have changed the perception and role played by traditional media. New ICT has led to development of new channels and models of communication, which make it easy for individuals to access and engage with information. New ICT has dramatically changed the way people communicate, collaborate and engage with information (Berger, 2012, pp. 31). New ICT has become part-and-parcel of human life today. People consume information on a daily basis in order to be aware of their surrounding, and fit within their environment. New ICT has brought about new channels of communication such as personal computers, tablets, mobile phones, the internet, fax machines, email, and more recently social media. It is not absurd today to find people communicating and sharing information via mobile phones (Burton, 2010, pp. 56). Invention of computers was mostly intended to revolutionize science and technology to help scientists and other organization to manage data. Over the years, computers have been transformed to play a major role on a personal level where they influence communication. New media is highly interactive and easy to manipulate. Other characteristics of new media include the fact that they are easy to manipulate, comprehensible, dense and networkable. With these new ICT technologies, individuals can easily access information, manipulate it and share it across networks with little or no costs involved (Couldry, 2012, pp. 120). The advancements in technology have had both positive and negative impacts on the way individuals communicate and use information. ICT has contributed a great deal in facilitating communication by making it easy for individuals to communicate and share information using the latest technology. While most of these technologies have good intentions and are only intended to improve communication, other side effects seem to undermine the communication process. There are efforts to improve the overall picture of communication by protecting information and making it difficult for people to misuse information (Couly, 2013, pp. 97). While this is a long-term view of improvements on communication and information sharing using ICT, challenges still exist. This essay will attempt to discuss both positive and negative impacts of developments in ICT on the communication process. Positive influence of ICT on Communication Advancements in new ICT have greatly altered the way in which people communicate. Over the years, developments in ICT have occurred hand in hand with changes in communication models and channels. Human communication has evolved from ancient and traditional methods of communication to modern electronic or digital technology. The impact of new ICT on communication is as illustrated below; New ICT has led to an increase in speed of communication while reducing costs involved. This one of the major development in ICT that has greatly impacted on how people communicate. Traditional media is slow, expensive therefore making information inaccessible for most people. With traditional media, documents were typed through a tedious process using typewrites, while letters took too long using the post office or couriers (Croteau, & Hoynes, 2014, pp. 96). Developments in ICT have revolutionized the communication industry by introducing new communication methods like emails, instant messaging, and chats. Personal computers, tablets and mobile phones can be networked and bring many people close together through local connections or the internet. These gadgets have also made it easy for people to process documents by editing and proofreading, and adding new features. Emails allow one to send documents and other files to multiple individuals all over the world in a matter of seconds (Croteau, 2012, pp. 67). All that one needs is internet access. Instant messaging and online chats allow individuals to share ideas and information by exchanging messages in a very short time. The other area where new ICT has changed communication is with regard to quality. Technology has raised the bar for quality of information available today. Computers enable individuals to edit, manipulate and organize information to improve its quality (Gorman, & Mclean, 2009, pp. 114). People can also access information from reliable and authoritative sources over the internet. This helps to improve the quality of information and make it more useful in different contexts. People can also access different types of information ranging from audio-visual to written information. New technology has also changed the style of modern day communication thereby affecting how people communicate and engage with information. Mobile phones, for instance, use text messages. Short hand text messages rely on short hand terminology, do not necessarily adhere to basic rules of grammar, and may be difficult to understand for people not familiar the words. Technology has also changed the style of communication in terms of increasing demand for more comprehensive information through audiovisual materials (Gough-Yates, 2003, pp. 57). People can now share audiovisuals over the internet as opposed to just relying on print media and photos. Social media like Twitter limit characters that individuals can use to share information. This makes individuals to be very creative and selective in the type of news and information they share with others. Latest technology has also shifted emphasis from face-to-face communication to reliance on written and nonverbal communication across networks. New Information Communication and Technology (ICT) has also improves accessibility of information. Technology has democratized the whole concept of information and communication in general. Traditional media remained under control of a few people who determined the type of info ration to share to the public. Advancements in technology have contributed in changing this view by empowering every person to create, access, or share information (Hall, 1999, pp. 121). Individuals can access information from different sources on the internet such as reliable websites, Google, Wikipedia among others. People can also access information from online forums and discussions, social media, live coverage of events and news among other sources. Technology has also altered the nature and state of modern communication. While the increased number of communication channels contributes to increasing the general volume of communication, the average length of communication has greatly reduced. Nowadays, people share anything that comes to mind instantly and tend to split up bigger topics into small segments for effective discussions (Hodkinson, 2011, pp. 90). This is in deep contrast to traditional media, which I mostly used for official communication. ICT has also had a huge impact on how individuals collaborate and engage with information. This is in relation to how individuals use and respond to information using modern technology and communication channels. Social media has for instance altered the dynamics of communication in situations of disasters (Hodkinson, 2011, pp. 87). People can share information about catastrophes and get help immediately. This also improves security management in areas where police are far from a scene. ICT also facilitates globalization process. New methods and channels of communication involve sharing information with different people irrespective of geographical boundaries. Technologies such as the internet have made the world look more like one big village. People can share different cultural perspectives, interact with each other and share different perspectives. With this modern technology, people are more aware of their surrounding and well abreast with events happening in other parts around the world. People engage with communication in various ways to improve living standards. It is much easier to access information today that it was a few years ago. This creates an opportunity for people to use this information to positively impact on their lives. Globalization makes it possible for people to learn about other countries, cultures and businesses and determine how to apply the information gathered in changing their own lives, businesses and cultural perspectives (Hodkinson, 2011, pp. 99). ICT makes it possible to improve the education system by employing the latest technology to manage students and lessons. People can also use information to improve their health management by finding information about how to prevent and treat different kinds of diseases. Information can also be used to improve other aspects of the economy such as agriculture by enabling farmers to access useful information about the best farming methods. Communication channels such as social media enable individuals to express themselves on a broader platform and establish online relationships with likeminded people around the world. People can form meaningful relationships based on genuine information sharing and exchanging ideas. This gives shy people an opportunity to express themselves and make friends with other people. Such individuals would never have a chance to form meaningful relationships with others and would remain isolated in the society. New technology also makes it possible for people to collect information, manipulate it and use it for their own purposes. It is much easier for one to carry out research in any field using modern technology such as the internet. One can easily conduct online surveys, access public libraries or any other useful sources of information to facilitate a research process (Livingstone, 2005, pp. 133). Businesses can also conduct market research studies in order to make appropriate decisions about marketing their products to their target customers. Government agencies can also use information to manage public affairs and improve service delivery to the people. Negative impact of ICT on Communication It is no doubt that advancements in ICT have contributed to improved communication and information sharing over the years. This is evidenced by the numerous channels of communication, models, and types of information that people share today, thanks to developments in ICT. It is also significant to examine and understand the negative impact of such developments in ICT on communication and changing how individuals collaborate and engage with information. Despite being very effective in improving communication and changing how people use information; new ICT has also had other undesirable effects on communication and information use. One negative effect of new ICT is that it has made people over reliant on technology. Technology has occupied a greater part of people’s day-to-day activities to the extent that almost everything depends on technology and information (Mattelart, 1998, pp. 76). Individuals a lot of time on the internet chatting and sharing ideas and information with their online friends at the expense of engaging in meaningful activities with people close to them. While such technology has broken done geographical boundaries and made it possible for people to build strong relationships with other around the world, it has destroyed physical relationships. People are continually getting out of touch with their immediate surroundings while focusing on the reality far from them and only accessible through modern day technology. Availability and accessibility of a lot of information also has its own negative consequences. While this information is intended for good use, some people may access such information and use it from other purposes. People can form groups on social media to spread wrong messages about people, events or other things (Mattelart, 1998, pp. 88). Criminals can also use information to perpetrate their criminal activities to meet their own objectives. Individuals can commit crimes such as cyber crimes, cyber bullying, information theft, and virus attack on the internet while the information collected from the internet can facilitate crimes on the ground. With availability of a lot of information, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ascertain what kind of information is accurate and reliable. Different people collect information from different sources for their own use. Some information may only be opinions of other people and may not represent universal truth to be applicable in all situations (Perri , 2012). It is therefore important to scrutinize the type of information one collects and for their own use. This also calls for maximum caution when borrowing information and trends from other cultures, countries and backgrounds. Such information need not be in conflict with widely recognized facts. New channels of communication such as text messaging undermine language. This is because messages require individuals to be economical with their words by using shortened versions of words and phrases to portray certain meanings (Perri, 2012). This often leads to poor grammar and broken language that may not be meaningful in official communication. This has led to a slight decline in the quality of modern day communication and information. The fact that people can share anything that comes up in their mind on platforms such as social media also brings down the quality of information shared across such platforms. Conclusion Information Communication and Technology (ICT) is constantly changing. New methods of communication in use today may quickly become obsolete in the near future when better methods of communication are developed. Changes resulting from advancements in ICT are irreversible and inevitable. It is better for everybody to conform to these changes and focus on the positive impact that ICT has on communication. While there are many challenges and concerns over modern day communication technology, there is bound to be improvements in the future. Despite all these challenges facing ICT today, the impact that modern day technology has had on communication cannot be undermined. One major impact is the revolution of communication process by introducing new channels of communication, altering the nature of communication, and reducing the costs of communication. With regard to information, new technology has made it easy for individuals to access information faster with little or no costs involves. ICT has also empowered people to create, own, manipulate, and share of distribute information to other people. 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