Social Networks and the Internet - Essay Example

Social Networks and the Internet Shrink our Perception of the World by Internet has changed the way people perceive information, relationships, and technology completely. It gave us a chance to spread information and get a feedback on it almost instantly making distance an abstract concept. World Wide Web and social networks have yielded new types of relationship which allow people keeping contact regardless of time and location. However, as any complex concept, World Wide Web has its advantages and disadvantages, and even its ability to shrink the world is ambivalent. In any case the process is unstoppable, and it is only possible to learn more about it. One of the first people who recognized the value of the global connection was Marshall McLuhan, however, he is considered to be the successor of Nicolas Tesla. The last described the world in which we live today precisely- our devices that are portable and with the help of which we not only hear people but can see them any time on any distance (McLuhan 2011).McLuhan predicted that the world will transform into a Global Village in the beginning of the 20th century. The author was speaking about radio but now the term is logically applicable to World Wide Web as it helped to forget about physical distance, time obstacles, and social prejudices. Media has become a nervous system of the planet which has integrated the world really fast. With a click of a mouse a person can find a community of people with similar interests and tastes and join it. Moreover, any event can be broadcast online to the real public. That is why it is possible to talk about world community that reminds Global Village where everyone knows each other. Eventually, such changes can lead to creation of new phenomenon in sociology and culture as the density of the contacts also increases (McLuhan, 1987). World Wide Web has substantially increased the speed of news spread globally: any event in one part of the world becomes known to the Internet users in a second. However, this global involvement into world problems has also increased the responsibility. According to McLuhan, the enhanced "electric speed in bringing all social and political functions together in a sudden implosion has heightened human awareness of responsibility to an intense degree" (McLuhan, 1964). Another discovery of McLuhan was the fact the type of media influences the information and becomes a message itself. So Internet can be regarded as a message as it changes completely the way people understand and perceive things, and the main issue of this message is its speed (McLuhan, 1962). So McLuhan predicted an appearance of media that would connect people to such an extent and would make them so reachable that the world will turn into a small village where news and rumors spread instantly and everyone who has an access to the World Web could become a viewer, a listener, and a producer of the information himself (Stearn, 1968). Friedman supported McLuhan`s theory but he said that the world would not only get smaller but also get flatter. According to Friedman, we have entered into a third phase of globalization today. The first one lasted for about 400 years and began when Columbus discovered America and proved that the Earth was round. This allowed countries to communicate and trade with each other freely so the perception of distance has changed. The colonizing nations received an opportunity to control their colonies, and the world changed from large to medium. In the second phase which lasted for about 200 years from 1800 to 2000 international corporations have become the driving forces of integration. Technology was nevertheless the basis for these changes as new kinds of transport and telecommunication have appeared. Railroad, telephone, satellites contributed to diminishing the world and making it small (2005). Eventually, the third phase is our today`s reality. The world is not only becoming tiny, it is becoming flat. The power is no longer concentrated in the hands of governments, corporations or nations; the power belongs to an individual. The era started when PC have become affordable to simple people and most of the people in developed countries received access to the Internet connection. So people living on different continents and speaking different languages got a chance to connected, which helped to diffuse the power between the world. Having achieved the opportunity to find anyone in a couple of minutes and see him physically via Internet people have turned the world into a flat construction (Friedman, 2005). Internet has also provided its users with a possibility of distant learning. Today many universities propose their students to receive a degree studying online. While earlier people had to cross continents to study the desired profession they wanted, today they can become certified professional sitting in their armchair. There is a number of formats with the help of which distant learning is provided. It is possible to learn with the help of online or recorded lectures, music, and podcasts. Visual information can be perceived with the help of videos and animation. Most obviously, World Web grants access to numerous electronic libraries where a learner can find books, articles on various topics. Most often the information is transmitted through sites where hypertext links are used (Porter 1997). In several decades distant learning will become a real alternative to the traditional education. It will allow people from different countries, minorities with various backgrounds achieving a degree. That is how the world is turning into one big school (Minoli, 1996). Moreover, with the help of World Web even medical care has changed its usual form as the concept of telemedicine has appeared. Telemedicine allows exchanging medical information with the help of electronic communications. In simple words, annoying visits to the doctor can be substituted with online consultation. Of course, the usage of this kind of technology is limited as it will not substitute surgery and dermatology, for instance. But for the most people consulting the doctor online and getting prescriptions is enough in many situations. Even psychiatrists today offer online consultations which solves the problem for many patients living far from the doctor`s office (What is telemedicine?). But it is hardly possible to find anything as powerful as social networks that have “shrinking” effect for the planet. Social networks have changed the way we see relationships completely as it has become possible to have friends all over the world. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram allow its users sharing visual and textual information in a second, and what is more important getting instant replies in two seconds. It makes users perceive distance as an illusionary aspect reducing the globe to the size of the screen (Jenkins, 2006). According to Zuckerman, people tend to look for those who are similar to them at the expense of the wider view of reality. People unite in clusters that are specific for them and stick to them forgetting that there are a plenty of other types of people. Zuckerman exemplified how a limited circle of people shrinks your perception of the world further and further. For instance, “if you are looking for a nice hotel in Florida you will most certainly choose among those hotels which were advertised or advised by your friends in a newsfeed. Sharing information among friends is what brings people together and what limits their world perception (Zuckerman, 2013). So World Wide Web and social networks have altered traditional perception of the world by shrinking it. With the possibility to reach anyone in the world in few seconds they have made distance a completely abstract concept. Among the advantages of the Internet it is possible to mention distant learning and telemedicine. Nevertheless, there are certain disadvantages such as limiting the circle of people and consuming specific information. However, World Web is still associated with complete freedom as every user is able to decide for himself how to use the Internet and social networks keeping in mind its advantages and disadvantages. References Friedman, T. (2005).The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, 2005. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media. Oxford: Gingko Press McLunah foresees global future. (2011). Living Internet. Retrieved from: http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_mcluhan.htm McLuhan, M. (1987). Letters of Marshall McLuhan. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Minoli, D. (1996) Distance learning technology and applications, Boston: Artech House. Porter, L. (1997) Creating the virtual classroom: distance learning with the Internet, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Stearn, G. (1968). McLuhan Hot & Cool. Boston: Artech House. What is Telemedicine? (2011). Washington, D.C.: American Telemedicine Association Zuckerman, J. (2013). Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection. London: W. W. Norton & Company. Read More