The Internet and Society: Impact, Relationship - Essay Example

? The Internet and Society: Impact, Relationship Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 II. The Internet and Society: Impact, Relationship 4 A. History 4 B. Discourses, Ideologies 6 C. Existing Media 8 D. Social and Cultural 9 III. Conclusion 11 References 12 I. Introduction This paper undertakes an assessment and evaluation of the impact of the Internet on society and its relationship with society. This in particular focuses on the evolution of the usefulness and relevance of the Internet to various aspects of the lives of society, with the rise of social media highlighting the ascent of the Internet as a primary pillar, lying at the heart of the most important activities of people and of society (Internet Society, 2013; Tyson, 2013). The paper undertakes this from the perspectives of the history of the Internet; the discourses/ideas and ideologies that are associated with the Internet; the Internet in relation to existing media; and the cultural and social aspects of the Internet. The Internet, as used here, refers to the global web of interconnected or internetworked computers numbering in the millions and are spread throughout the world, with more than one hundred countries worldwide sharing various forms of data. In 2011, the worldwide count for people who are plugged into the Internet was pegged at about a third of the global population, or close to 2.27 billion people. The Internet and the World Wide Web have come to refer to the same reality of internetworked people behind the computer networks, making use of technological protocols that were developed in the 1970’s and further refined all the way to the present time. That said, strictly speaking, there are distinctions between the Internet, which is the global computer network, and the World Wide Web, which is strictly a layer on top of the Internet and which exists for the purpose of being able to access data and communications that are passed over the Internet (Quinstreet, 2013; Merriam-Webster, 2013). There is little doubt that the Internet is core to the information and telecommunication revolution that has swept the world, and continues to revolutionize almost every aspect of human individual and social activity, from science to the arts and the conduct of politics and even religion and the way people relate to one another via the various forms of social media (DiMaggio et al., 2001; Wahome, 2013; Kalathil and Boas, 2003; Howard et al., 2001). This paper explores those and other vital aspects in the context of the structure described above (Boase and Wellman, 2004; Hesse et al., 2005; Asur and Huberman, 2010; Shirky, 2011; Leiner et al., 2013). II. The Internet and Society: Impact, Relationship A. History The history of the Internet is said to be marked by a great deal of complexity owing to the multifaceted nature of its development and origin, spanning organization, technology and community aspects, among many others. The influence of the Internet in all spheres of human activity has something to do with the complex nature of its history too. The early sketches of the Internet, meanwhile, are said to be traced back to the 1960’s, first with the development of the concept of the Galactic network at DARPA by JCR Licklider who was then connected to MIT. Leonard Kleinrock, also from MIT, would create a prior paper on the theory of packet switching in 1961, a precursor technological concept that would be a prime enabler of the Internet. Lawrence Roberts would form part of the team at DARPA who would leverage this concept alongside the notion of the Galactic Network to advance work on the ARPANET from 1966 onwards. By 1972, the ARPANET had evolved to include a number of key enabling technologies that would form the foundation of a functional network of computers that could do electronic email exchanges, among others. Roberts would be instrumental in further enhancing the capabilities of the email application in the ARPANET, which would take off in the next decade after that to become a harbinger of the type of person to person interactions that became possible with networked computers of the system. It is this same ARPANET finally that would morph into the Internet as it evolved. Architecturally, Robert Kahn would pioneer work in the ARPANET on open architecture networks, that would guarantee the interoperability of various kinds of computer networks within the evolving Internet. The technologies and protocols would continue to evolve into the 80’s, with developments in PC architectures and Local Area Networks fueling the growth of the Internet, even as the protocol switches from older protocols to TCP/IP in 1983 were adopted to make sure the Internet was able to accommodate the exponential growth in traffic through the networks. In these phases of the Internet’s history, the engineers and computer scientists were instrumental in evolving the technologies that tie together to make the Internet robust and widely available (Leiner et al., 2013). The commercialization phase of the Internet itself is one that has come to be associated with various stages in the way companies have found ways to make money from the Interne. The first wave is via the provision of the network infrastructure hardware components, which was the province of technological engineers and hardware and software scientists and technicians, who engaged themselves in the business of building out the early infrastructure and accommodating the rapid increase in access points to the Internet via the provision of the underlying physical and network infrastructure. In later years, the commercialization has evolved into new phases where the provision of services by traditional businesses, such as banking and the procurement of goods and various other services via portals that handle every aspect of the supply and value chain, has become key. In the newer phases too, businesses built around search and social media, where advertising is the revenue driver, have become successful. The proliferation of mobile computing meanwhile augurs well for the further evolution of the commercialization aspects of the Internet (Leiner et al., 2013). B. Discourses, Ideologies The discourses and ideas and images associated with the Internet have changed through the years, evolving with the way the uses of the Internet have evolved and have become more and more sophisticated with the passing of the years. Whereas the early phases of the evolution of the Internet saw it being dominated by technological concerns, and occurring in conjunction with the rapid adoption of the personal computer and the evolution of computer networks and the use of email facilities to enable person to person communication. On the other hand, later advances in search changed the discourse to include ideas relating to the Internet as a repository of global knowledge and place where different ideas, cultures, religions, and political inclinations mixed and clashed in order to create new realities and ways of being for those connected. Then too, the Internet also came to be associated with new ways of doing business and new business models that include the likes of Amazon and Google, which are pure Internet plays upending traditional business models in publishing and in retailing, among others (Wahome, 2013; Kalathil and Boas, 2003; Hesse et al., 2005; Asur and Huberman, 2010). Other traditional media businesses, such as print media and increasingly videos and entertainment media, have come to be associated with consumption via the Internet, likewise threatening the hold of traditional businesses in these spaces on the minds and hearts of ordinary consumers. Then too, the rise of social media platforms continue to redefine the ideas, concepts and discussions relating to the role of the Internet in fomenting changes in global politics, and in changing the paradigms of what media is and can be. The empowerment of individuals versus the passive consumption models of old media has the Internet also becoming a venue for proactive engagement on the part of social media participants in the creation of media content. This applies to, not only to emerging and established social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but also other platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. The emerging new reality is arguably blurring the distinction between the Internet and other forms of media, with the Internet becoming the more dominant venue for distributing and sharing media and other content, and traditional media morphing to have online components as well (Shirky, 2011; Leiner et al., 2013; Kietzmann et al., 2011; O’Keefe et al., 2011; Eyrich et al., 2008; Hawn, 2009; Hassan and Shiratuddin, 2013). C. Existing Media The previous discussion touched on the shifting boundaries and changing dynamics between the old media forms and the Internet as either complementary to traditional print and TV media or as being a harbinger of new forms of media, social media being one of them. When one talks about social media, for instance, the literature and the trade make it clear that social media platforms are enabled mostly by the Internet, whereas with regard to shifting boundaries we also see traditional media making use of Internet social media platforms to enhance their content and related services offerings (Wahome, 2013; Kalathil and Boas, 2003; Hesse et al., 2005). On the other hand, with regard to the way media content has come to find their way to Internet only platforms such as YouTube and the social media platforms first and solely in some cases, to the exclusion of traditional media channels, speaks of a kind of changing of the guard in terms of the waning influence of print media and TV versus the emerging dominant position of Internet-bred media platforms in the creation and dissemination of new and original, as well as archived, media content and entertainment content (Asur and Huberman, 2010; Shirky, 2011; Leiner et al., 2013). In the concrete, we have traditional print media yielding to online channels over paper in order to continue to remain relevant in a world where consumers are increasingly solely reliant on the Internet for the consumption of news. The rise of social media further entrenches the Internet as the venue for disseminating and commenting on news content, to the marginalization of other media platforms, such as print, and even TV to a certain extent (Kietzmann et al., 2011; O’Keefe et al., 2011; Eyrich et al., 2008; Hawn, 2009). D. Social and Cultural From the preceding analyses and discussions it is clear that the Internet has become a pervasive reality, and one can argue that the dominant position of the Internet as provider of news and entertainment, and of the venues for social interactions via the social media, has implications on the impact of the Internet on the social and cultural fabrics that hold societies together, and shape their future. Outside of consumption of media content and entertainment, the literature too is replete with new social and cultural uses of the Internet, as in the case of the use of social media to bring down authoritarian political regimes, and as a means for people to enforce transparency in government, greater participation in political and social decision-making, and to push different political agendas. In Kalathil and Boas (2003), for instance, the social and cultural uses of the Internet extend to political activities where the Internet, prior to the rise of social media, was already being used as an arena for information dissemination, education on social and political causes, and the like. On the other hand, economic uses of the Internet, to conduct trade and to launch new businesses, likewise have become socially and culturally accepted ways of living, morphing traditional conceptions of what constitute business activities and where people can trade and advance their economic interests (Asur and Huberman, 2010; Shirky, 2011; Leiner et al., 2013; Kietzmann et al., 2011; O’Keefe et al., 2011). This is apart from a myriad other emergent uses for the Internet, such as in the provision of healthcare, that have various cultural and social ramifications too. The take is that the Internet has come to permeate society in terms of reach and access given to substantial portions of the population, and in terms of becoming an essential aspect of the various social interactions and modes of consuming content and news, to the point where almost all vital aspects of social and cultural interaction among people have come to have online, Internet components or have the Internet as a vital enabler (Wahome, 2013; Kalathil and Boas, 2003; Hesse et al., 2005; Eyrich et al., 2008; Hawn, 2009). III. Conclusion The uses of the Internet in society continue to expand and to grow by the day, and judging from the literature, will continue on that pace to become an insistent reality and something that cannot be separated from the very fabric of society itself. The impact is profound and fundamental, affecting the way people relate to one another and to the social and political institutions that govern their lives. That the Internet has become a preferred mode for distributing and consuming news and entertainment content, as well as knowledge and general information, via social media and related platforms, has implications for the central relationship that the Internet has forged with society in general, taking over the place of traditional media channels in print and in TV, which in turn must find ways to stay relevant by likewise engaging their constituents via online presences (Kietzmann et al., 2011; O’Keefe et al., 2011; Eyrich et al., 2008; Hawn, 2009). References Asur, S. and Huberman, B. (2010). Predicting the Future with Social Media. arXiv. Retrieved from http://arxiv.org/pdf/1003.5699.pdf Boase, J. and Wellman, B. (2004). Personal Relationships: On and Off the Internet. Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/publications/personal_relations/PR%20-%20FINAL%20-%2029aug04.pdf DiMaggio, P. et al. (2001). Social Implications of the Internet. Annual Review of Sociology 27. Retrieved from http://homepages.abdn.ac.uk/f.guerin/pages/teaching/CS5038/lectures/abdn/society/SOCIALIMPLICATIONS.pdf Eyrich, N. et al. (2008). PR practitioners’ use of social media tools and communication technology. Public Relations Review 34. Retrieved from http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/30419646/eyrich-et-al-2008-pr-practitioners-use-of-social-media.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNPEA&Expires=1384200612&Signature=zMv7Blft2HEcd2mYwH1T5iH1O18%3D&response-content-disposition=inline Hassan, S. and Shiratuddin, N. (2013). Identifying criteria for measuring influence of social media. International Journal of Technology and Computer Science 10 (3). Retrieved from http://ijitcs.com/volume%2010_No_3/Shahizan+Hassan.pdf Hawn, C. (2009). Take Two Aspirin and Tweet Me in the Morning: How Twitter, Facebook and Other Social Media Are Reshaping Health Care. Health Affairs 28 (2). 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Retrieved from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet-infrastructure.htm Wahome, J. (2013). The Digital Age: Internet- The Unchecked Global Sensation? Proceedings of 1st JKUAT-SHRD Research Conference. Retrieved from http://www.jkuat.ac.ke/schools/shrd/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/9-Community-Youth-Communication-Media-and-Developmental-Issues.pdf#page=40 Read More