The Relationship of Telegraph and Facebook - Essay Example

The technological and cultural changes between the relationship of Telegraph and Facebook The technological and cultural changes between the relationship of Telegraph and Facebook The sunrises and the sunsets, days come and days go. Human beings grow from stage to stage and this depicts the dynamism of life. Changes are inevitable. Technological changes have taken centre stage from the 20th century. Inventions after inventions have been made and this is in a bid to improve human life. Man wants to make his work easier every day. Changes in technology have brought about the changes in cultures. Technology has made the world to be a one global village. Something happening in one part of the world can reach the other part of the world within seconds. The advent of Facebook has made communication and meeting new people easy, businesses have grown and cultures have evolved due to this. Some primitive cultures have been eradicated. In the essay we shall be seeking to establish the evolution from Telegraph to Facebook and the technological and cultural changes they have brought by first understanding their innovations their uses and how the telegraph necessitated or facilitated the innovation of Facebook The history of the telegraph dates back to 1794 where Claude Chappe invented a non- electric telegraph. This kind of telegraph used a flag based alphabet, a semaphore and it was wholly dependent on a line of a sight communication. Later this kind of telegraph was replaced by an electric telegraph. In Bavaria, Samuel Soemmering used gold electrodes of wire under water and the message could be read by the amount of gas that was produced by the electrodes. In USA, Harrison Dyar invented the first telegraph in 1828. He used a paper tape that was chemically treated to burn the dashes and the dots (Jennifer, 1989). Joseph Henry demonstrated the power of the electromagnet, which was first discovered by a British William Sturgeon. He sent an electronic current for over a mile, which activated an electromagnet and in turn caused the bell to ring. Samuel F. B. Morse in 1830s started experimenting by sending communication through electromagnetic signals. In 1838, he successfully sent a message from Morristown to New Jersey. He was later granted funds by the congress to help him install a line of communication between Washington DC and Baltimore and he stuck wires between the two cities. The first message he sent from the Supreme Court Chambers to his assistant Alfred Vail in Baltimore was “What hath God wrought” (Marland, 1964) The telegraph from then became part of the communication and an accepted part of American life. People used to send and receive messages from far distances using the telegraph. Abraham Lincoln as a president of the America used the telegraph to transmit his first state of the Union message. “The message of the president Lincoln was telegraphed yesterday to all parts of the loyal states. The message contained 7,578 words, and was all received in this city in one hour and 32 minutes, a feat of telegraphing unparallel in the Old or the New world”(New York Times, 1861). Lincoln also used a lot of His time in the telegraph room, which was located in the war department room that was near the White House during the civil wars. He could spend most of his time communicating with the commanders in the war and it is said that at times he could spend a whole night awake waiting for his commanders at war to respond or to send him messages. His messages could be written in long hand and the people operating the telegraph at the other side would relay them to the military Cipher to the front. In the 19th century, the telegraph took a different turn in the art industry. Constantino Brumidi depicted it in the capitol dome, Apotheosis of Washington. He was an Italian born artist and was based in the US capitol that had been newly expanded. In two beautiful paintings, he had incorporated two beautiful paintings that incorporated the transatlantic cable. In a few years the lofty depictions of the optimistic artist were completed. This was before the cable was finally proven successful in the laying of the cables. In this painting, Europe and America are seen to be clasping hands and a Cherub is offering a telegraph wire. The wall painting also has a wall painting written titled Marine. It also shows Venus giving a helping hand in trying to lay the transatlantic cable. Later the telegraph became an essential part of communication by the end of the 19th century where most of the world was connected by the telegraphic cables. The underwater cables for example, connected Singapore to Australia and Middle East to India (Beauchamp, 2001). The impact of the telegraph and social and technological changes was inevitable. The impact on the society was indirect as it transformed the industry and the working of the government. Prior to the invention of the electric telegraph, the couriers and mail coaches were used to dispatch messages to various parts of the world. This was very typical and tiresome and took longer time for the message to be delivered and to be replied completing the communication model. The invention of the electric telegraph came as a relief as it reduced the time and the effectiveness of the message. The faster flow of the information opened new markets and opened various opportunities for the newspaper industry. This is because they would receive information from the various parts of the world and expand their newspaper. This created more job opportunities for people and improved their livelihood. The newspaper business also boosted employment in the telegraph industry as many people were employed to facilitate this in the manufacturing and transmission of the information. This changed the living culture of the people (Beauchamp, 2001). The communication between the family and personal communication also improved. People started using telegrams to pass letter and other messages to family members, friends and acquaintances. Before people used letters to post this letters which took long for the complete communication model. However, at this time, they also used letters and restricted telegrams to the most urgent matters, personal information and mostly the telegrams were written in short form, and in a way, the recipient would understand. In this form of communication, minimal writing was used. Telegraphs also helped to maintain law and order in the society as communication between the police agencies was made easy. It now became difficult for criminals to hide. As discussed earlier, Abraham Lincoln during the civil war used the telegraph to communicate to his commanders at war and would spend a lot of time waiting for the replies. The telegraph also aided in crime. This is because the criminals could easily communicate and could plan on their criminal activities. This brought crime to a completely new level. Through the telegraphs, radio and television broadcasting became easy as information flow was made accessible. Information about particular events that occurred without prior planning could reach the stations faster and they would embark on covering the situation. The radio broadcast also could receive urgent message through the telegraph and use it to either warn the citizens or the government of an impending danger or use it for general warnings or announcements. Telecommunications through the telegraphs also claimed a big share of the rise in businesses and the mass employment of the people. From its rise in the 1930s to making it to the top ranking businesses in the world in the 20th century. Behind the telegraph was a mass number of people who worked hard to make sure information was encoded as it was supposed to be and was passed smoothly. The conditions under which people worked were greatly influenced by the invention of the telegraph, this depicted a change in the society, and this changed the cultures of the people. Women also were integrated in the world of work and they were able to get the leading roles in the industry. They could be employed as supervisors, operators, and in the businesses that directly or indirectly benefited from the telegraphic industry. High voltage required in transmitting the data using the telegraph, this posed a danger to the health of the workers and therefore training of safety was required. People also needed to be trained on how to handle people that may be affected by the accidents that may occur on the course of the business. In an indirect way, this helped the society as they could also be of use in helping during an incidence in the community (Jennifer, 1989). In the technology, telegraphs have played a very important role in the changing of the technology. From the telegraph, there came the telephone. From the telephone, there was the mobile phone and the rise of the internet came because of this. From the rise of the internet, Facebook was launched. The innovation of the telegraph helped to facilitate the changing culture of businesses, government’s social organizations and the people. Many people understood communication technology and helped it grow over the years. The 19th century saw the rise of new technologies and the same principles that were used to develop the telegraph were used to develop other technologies. They later replaced the telegraph and this led to its decline both in the usage and in importance. The internet was one such discovery that led to the social media of today among them my space, twitter and Facebook. Many people tried to explore this medium of communication and came up with so many creative things. They tried to know what the internet was and how it could be improved. For them the internet was like a door that hid so much in the room that needed to be let out. There were also groups who were not ready to understand the internet and criticized it in every forum provided to do so. These kinds of people were not ready to explore the new world. In a way, the social circles grew in a great way that could not have been predicted earlier. People saw the need to share their interests among themselves and with friends all over the globe. Social sites helped people to connect to the people they loved all to those they wanted to. Business communities took the advantage to reach more people and grow widely. Governments also took the opportunity to interact with their people in a new and closer way. Parents got the chance to talk with their children and peers got the chance to talk with their peers. Emotions were created through the internet and marriages were made. This made the internet an integral part of the human survival and many were quick and ready to embrace it. There were those who still had their doubts or perhaps they feared the outcome of the internet. They were so afraid to try. To afraid to sign up for anything wondering what to write or how to go about it. They could not think of a way they could survive in the growing world of the internet. The era of Facebook made it easier for lovers, family, friends, Exes, schoolmates, workmates, neighbors to reconnect again. This brought a new era of care. Something in the society that could not be eliminated. People wanted to keep in touch with those they did not know their whereabouts and they searched for each other through facebook which had to be connected to the internet. Therefore we ask ourselves how then is the Telegraph ad facebook connected? A quick answer would be that the Electric telegraph opened a way that people would pass information and communicate. People would keep in touch with each other. However, these methods had its challenges and needed improvements. Among the challenges was that the information process was slow and it was used among few people and at a specific point. The telephone came to replace the telegraph and though it was faster human beings were not contented with it. This brought the rise of the computers and the mobile phones. They both required a network that would transmit information and messages among people and from the creation of the networks internet was formed that would host many things at a time and in 1971, the first email was sent. This led to the growing need of communication and social sites were created starting with MY SPACE that attracted a wide range of subscribers in the USA. Facebook also came into force. A student of Harvard College (Nicholas, 2010) started it . Mark Zuckerberg is the brain behind the establishment of the Facebook. From some finances from Eduardo Saverin he was able to run Facebook as one of his hobby projects. He first started Facebook as a channel through which he and his friends in the Harvard University would be able to communicate and share information. To be precise it was started so that he could reach his dorm friends at Harvard and later expanded it to the whole school. This later changed as he expanded it and allowed other university students from the neighboring colleges and universities such as Yale and Stanford to join in. by 2000 Facebook had grew tremendously and the number of subscribers had risen to over a million ranging from high school students to the working class people. In addition, a number of businesses had subscribed to Facebook and institutions of higher learning and other institutions had not been left behind. His friends at Harvard University to expand his subscriber’s base and to take Facebook to another level later joined him. These friends were Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The three later pulled out of Harvard University to concentrate with the Facebook business and made it officially a network frames for national students. It became a phenomenon in the whole country. In 2005, they purchased a domain for Facebook called the Facebook.com. This cost them a total of $200000 (Nicholas, 2010) Facebook has influenced more on technology as it is the most used networking sites on the Internet by over millions of people. Many people require it for business purposes and for other uses therefore need for improvement is essential. Technology is the element through which Facebook got itself into this world and it is the element to which it survives. The elements include this like the translator. This requires Facebook to stay pro active to the changes in technology and keep updating it. With the use of social media, communication has been easy. An example is Orkut. This site failed because it was unable to cope with the changing technology and this made it to collapse and was taken over y Facebook. Changes in the use of facebook have been very essential. The face of Facebook 5 years ago is not the look of Facebook today. New changes have to be adapted and implemented. It no longer uses direct communication but now it can use group chats, which are essential in the business industry or in institutions of learning. It has now become easier for business to engage with each other, with their customers, suppliers and employees. Institutions have been able to communicate with their students and the students are able to communicate with their peers (Lacy, 2006) Facebook has provided an easy way to communicate due to a high number of active users. The target is also massive and therefore information flow is effective. This has helped in the development of other technologies as their advertisement has become easier. People are able to get firsthand information on every technological product that is introduced in the market and this has motivated innovators in coming up with new technologies. It has also helped in gathering of opinions by the marketers of new technological innovation and this has helped in the improvement of new technologies. Job opportunities and attachments can also be obtained from Facebook as many employers can advertise through Facebook. It has therefore become easier for people to create job opportunities through Facebook. Facebook also has been able to be accessed through the phone and this has led to the growth of the phone industry. New phones have been introduced into the market to keep up with the rising need of the social subscribers (David, 2010). The rise of Facebook has also led to the changes in the culture of people. Many students have been able to interact more on Facebook and this has influenced the way they talk and they way they react to their teachers and parents. Many have joined the addiction club of Facebook and this has affected mostly on their interactive nature. They have no time to play or to engage with their peers because they are busy on the Facebook. Facebook has also increased the relationships between people as it has created marriages, growth of relationships and friendships have risen from this. People from different cultures have been able to interact well and has led new cultures (David, 2010). In conclusion, the technological and cultural changes brought about by Facebook and the telegraph is so many to be noted one by one. The telegraph was an essential part of communication in the 19th century and it pioneered the recent development in information communication, which brought about internet that made Facebook easy to start and use. References Reinganum, Jennifer F. 1989. The Timing of Innovation: Research, Development, and Diffusion. In Handbook of Industrial Organization, ed. Richard Schmalensee and Robert Willig, 849-908. New York: Elsevier. Beauchamp, K.G. (2001). History of Telegraphy: Its Technology and Application. IET. pp. 394– 395. ISBN 0-85296-792-6. E. A. Marland, Early Electrical Communication, Abelard-Schuman Ltd, London 1964, no ISBN, Library of Congress 64-20875, pages 17-19; Carlson, Nicholas (March 5, 2010). "At Last – The Full Story Of How Facebook Was Founded". Business Insider. Lacy, Sarah (September 12, 2006). "Facebook: Opening the Doors Wider". BusinessWeek (New York). Kirkpatrick, David (2010-06-08). The Facebook Effect (pp. 37-38). Simon & Schuster.. New York Times December 4, 1861: Read More