Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in

Journalism & Mass Communication

BJMC-8
INTRODUCTION TO NEW MEDIA

Block - 1
Concepts of New Media

Unit-1 New Media, Key Terminologies

Unit-2 Information Society and New Media,

Networked Society

Unit-3 Technological Determinism

Unit-4 Computer Mediated Communication

The Course follows the UGC prescribed syllabus for BA(Honors)
Journalism and Mass Communication under Choice Based
Credit System (CBCS).

Course Writer Course Editor

Ms. Ashwini Kamble Dr. Anurag Sahu
Assistant Professor Assistant Professor (JMC), KIIT
IIMC, Amarawati, Maharastra Bhubaneswar

Material Production
Dr. Manas Ranjan Pujari
Registrar
Odisha State Open University, Sambalpur

(CC) OSOU, JANAURY, 2021. Concepts of New Media is made available

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Unit - 1: New Media, Key Terminologies
Unit Structure:

1.1 Learning Objectives

1.2 Introduction
1.3 Defining New Media

1.3.1 Examples of New Media

1.4 Difference between Traditional Media and New Media

1.5 Characteristics of New Media

1.6 Key Terminologies

1.7 Check your progress

1.1 Learning Objectives

After completion of this unit, you will able to understand;

 The concept of newmedia

 Characteristics of newmedia
 Different between new media and traditionalmedia
 The key terminology related to newmedia
1.2 Introduction

The so-called new media technologies - often referred to as Web 2.0 - encompass a
wide variety of web-related communication technologies, such as blogs, wikis, online
social networking, virtual worlds and other social media forms. In 2020, we have faced
the time which we had never imagined. Entire nation was locked down due to the
corona pandemic. It was hit so badly to the whole world that we had to shut down
everything. It was an unusual and unexceptional situation. And hence the dependence
on media for news and latest information was huge. Along with newspaper and
television another major source of information was social media. Thanks to internet.
Even before this never like before situation, with the arrival of internet our lives have
changed drastically. With traditional media like newspapers, radio and television we are
now in the age of new media.

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 New media has become the part of our lives. But during this pandemic we could
explore the extent we can use social media and various apps and we have understood
how this has took over our lives. These days, social media has become the most
famous place for many things.

And there are lots of reasons why new media has become so popular in India. In this
unit we are going to deal with the various points related to the rise and use of new
media.

Before going into the details let’s think about some points briefly:

What is the one gadget that you get to see in the hands of the most of the people these
days? Undoubtedly, it is your smart phone. The availability of mobile phone with the
latest technology is one of the reasons why social media has become so popular. Most
of us use smart phones and it has become necessity for some. We click, shoot, edit,
record, sell, buy, share, make friends, get information, get entertained, get paid, we can
book cab and hotels and we can even eat with the help of our smart phone and the list
in unending. It is no more just a status symbol like a few years back.

The second reason is availability of internet at the cheap data packs. Thanks to the
increasing competition, mobile companies are coming with lucrative offers for the
consumers. And that is resulting into the rise of mobile and internet usage in India.

And third reason is the advancement of technology. The established as well as new
start-ups are coming up with lots and lots of different user-friendly mobile applications
which are increasing popular especially among youth. Sometimes we use these apps for
simple reasons as clicking good selfies and posting it on some social networking
groups. Or sometimes we use it for getting information of new government scheme or
finding a job. And this is another reason why new media becoming more and more
popular.

1.3 Defining New Media

Media is defined as the storage and transmission tools used for the delivering data or
information. So new media is the new technology tools used to store and transmit data
or information. In the past, much was made of the supposed "death" and decline of old
media – say, newspapers, magazines, television, radio – after all, the news in
newspapers is very old compared to news over the Internet. Life magazine died for that
very reason; it was replaced by television. Some even compared old media to the
telegraph, which was virtually replaced by telephone – and, of course, more recently by
email. However, we usually see that, rather than replacing old media, new media serve

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 to supplement old media, often working side by side to further the organization's
goals. For example, the New York Times is available at newsstands as well as at their
Internet site. News items at NYTimes.com are updated throughout the day and
readers are encouraged to comment in real time. Columnists often have their own
blogs on the site as well.

We consider newspapers, radio and television as mainstream media. If we look at the

history of media in India we understand that these mainstream media have long
history. The first newspaper was published in 1780, it was Hicky‟s Bengal Gazzete also
known as Calcutta General Advertiser. The radio was introduced in 1927 by the Private
Broadcasting Company in Mumbai. And in case of television, the experimental telecast
was started in 1959 in Delhi. The media based on internet was started in late 80s. It was
arrived in India quite late. So, if we compare the emergence of the media, internet
based media is relatively newer. And hence it is known asnew media. But of course, as
the technology changes, the meaning of ―new‖ will change. Once we understand this
then it is easier to understand the various definitions of new media given by the experts.

Lev Manobivh, in an introduction to The New Media Reader, defines new media as the
forms of media that are computational and rely on computers for redistribution. In other
words, new media are the cultural objects which use digital computer technology for
distribution and exhibition. It also means the data is controlled by some software.

It is also defined as communication technologies that enable or facilitate user-to user

interactivity between user and information. Techopedia.com defines new media as new
electronic communications that are conceivable due to innovation in computer
technology.

Digital media is digitized content that can be transmitted over the internet or computer
networks. This can include text, video, audio and graphics. It is mainly related with the
translating the analog data into digital format. Digital media is any media that are
encoded in machine-readable formats. Digital media can be created, viewed,
distributed, modified and preserved on digital electronics devices.

New media is used to describe content made available using different forms of
electronic communication made possible through the use of computer technology.
Generally, the phrase new media describes content available on-demand through the
Internet.

On new or digital media content can be viewed and shared on any device and provides
way for people to interact with the content in real-time. Users can comment on it. This
makes it easy for people to share the content online and in social with friends, relatives

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 and co-workers. So, basically even if there is slight difference between new media
and digital media one can easily interchange these words for one another.

1.3.1. Examples of New Media

Once we understand what new media is then we can look around for various forms of
new media which we are already using. Following are major, frequently and most
used forms of new media:

 Websites
 Email
 Online portals
 Blogs
 Various mobile apps
 Social networking sites
 Digital data
 Online videos
 Virtual communities
 Micro-blogging sites
 Photo, video, audio sharing sites
 Online Encyclopedia

1.4 Basic difference between Traditional Mass Media and New Media

Once we understood that the new media is different from traditional media by
definition, then we can check for the characteristics of new media. Sometimes the best
way to explain a phenomenon is to convey what it is not. One way to define the new media
and their associated technologies is to contrast them to the traditional media. Traditional
media – newspapers, magazines, radio, television – are communication delivery systems.
These are relatively independent, static, historical. Today, old media are almost always
paired with new media – newspapers and magazines have online versions, as well as their
own blogs, television networks produce a great deal of online content related to their
programming, etc. Some of this evolution has been due to the concern that the new media is
growing at the expense of the old media; and old media must evolve to survive.

Let’s see the basic difference between new media and traditional mass media.

i. Traditional mass media needs huge investment and huge manpower on the
other hand new media does not require huge investment and manpower. It
can be managed singlehanded.

ii. Traditional mass media like newspapers, television and radio are
comparatively static in nature whereas new media is extremely dynamic.

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 iii. Traditional mass media get time to create its content, though news channels
are quick with the breaking news but still they take time to create story or
package but on new media in no time content is generated.

iv. In traditional mass media only news professionals create content on the
contrast in new media all the users, in other words anybody can contribute
into the content.

v. Traditional mass media may present one sided stories with some biases or
some vested interests but on new media all type of users contribute into the
content and hence one may get to know various angels through new media.

vi. The flip side of this is on new media there is no accountability with the
content and hence fake information can be generated and also spread.
Traditional media has brand name to care for and they are answerable to the
public to some extend and hence they have to be accurate with the
information as much as possible. These are considered some of the basic
differences between new media and mass media.

TABLE
THE TRADITIONAL vs THE NEW MEDIA
Books → Ebooks, wikis
Journalism → blogs
Music → pandora
Newspapers, Magazines → ezines
Radio → Podcasts
Television → Full episodes on the web
Telephone → VOIP
Film → Amateur videos on the web
Photography → Flickr, Picasa
Art → Museums on the web

1.5 Main Characteristics of New Media

Along with the above basic differences between mass media and new media, following
are major six characteristics of new media given in the book, New Media-A Critical
Introduction‟ written by Martin Lister, Jon Dovey, Seth Giddings, Iain Grant, and
Kieran Kelly.

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 1. Digital
2. Interactivity
3. Hyper textual
4. Global Network
5. Virtual World
6. Simulated

Digital

Do you remember film music cassettes or video cassettes of movies? That was a
time when we use to buy or rent these cassettes for hour basis. It was analogue
time. Earlier the information or data was saved on tapes with an analogue method.

But now with the change in the technology everything is digital. The information is
converted, stored and transmitted as binary code. This saves time, space and
information can be used more effectively. Digitalisation has also helped us in
convergence. Due to digitalization, most of the websites and mobile application
provide the facility of text, audio, video and we not only can read but watch, listen
and search for information and share, shop and do other functions as well.

Interactivity

As we have seen earlier also traditional old media was offering „one way‟
communication. In this audience was considered as passive and most of the time it
was on the receiving end of broadcasts.

But with the new media the interaction between informer and consumer or user has
increased tremendously. It gives space to interact and get involved as compared to
mass media. It is much more of a two way form of communication than old media.

Earlier readers used to send letters to the editors and that was the only involvement
readers used to have. But now in new media one can comment on any news, and
share that news on other social media platforms and even directly get connected
with the reporter. The chances of interaction are hugely increased. New media is
truly participatory in nature.
Hyper-textual
Hyper-textual means the text which contains links. It is one more peculiar
characteristic of new media. It provides the facility to include links of the related
content from same or other sources of information. In other words one may add
various connections to the content to make it more informative and reader-friendly.

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 With hypertext or links one can add various references from various sources to the
main content.
Global Networks
New media has given access to the entire world and many influential people which
were out of reach earlier. With the use of new media we can interact virtually with
anyone from any corner of the world, this cultural globalization has given power to
us. We can become part of any global community virtually and we can share our
opinions and thoughts.
Virtual Worlds
The major difference between traditional old mass media and new media is the
presentation of real and virtual world. New Media presents a virtual world. It is can
be completely different from real world. This may encourage showing only one
aspect of their world. You can be friend or follower of your favorite celebrity on
new media but in reality there is hardly any connection.

On Facebook or Instagram we get to see beautiful and happening pictures of your

friend or relative, in reality they may not be that beautiful or their life may not be
that happening but these social media platform may present only that side. This is
known as virtual reality.
Simulation
New media provide simulation which is one step beyond the virtual nature of new
media. In games and some videos provide an immersive experience for users into a
―virtual life‖ that is simulated through digital technology. These virtual worlds are
synthetic creations that ultimately rely on algorithms which set the parameters
through which events in the gaming environment unfold. Examples today include
not only online RPG games, but also driving and flight simulations.

1.6 Key Terminologies

New media is immensely popular amount youth all over the world. And it has huge
impact on various things. One of the important things is the language. New media has
its own language.

Social networking site Facebook, search engine Google, micro blogging site Twitter,
online encyclopedia Wikipedia, video sharing site Youtube and photo and video
sharing site Instagram are extremely popular in India. Without their mention we cannot
talk about new media. Above examples are considered as social media. Following are
some of the terms which are frequently used by new media users on social media. If
you want to use social media effectively you must know them. Let’s begin:

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 Handle: A handle refers to a user’s account name on Twitter but it can be in
reference to other social platforms too.
Share: Someone posts something and then another user repost that content on
same or other media platform that is called as sharing. Social media has this „share‟
clickable button with which its users can repost the content as many times as they
want. It helps to spread the message rapidly.
Twitterati: The Twitter users who have huge number of followers and whatever
they Tweet, it will be the talk of the social media. Like celebrities, social
influencers.
Filter: There are many types of filters in electronics or in physics but in social
media filter is an application used to edit the photos. Filters can help you to give
various effects to your photos. It is frequently used on Instagram.
Engagement: It is an interaction between two social media users. When someone
posts something on any social media platform and some other user reacts to that
post in the form of„like‟, retweet‟,„comment‟ or„ share‟ then it is called as
engagement with the user.

Hashtag: a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media
websites and applications, especially Twitter, to identify messages on a specific
topic. E.g. if you want to search tweets on Odisha State Open University then you
may search on Twitter #OSOU or # Odisha State Open University then you will
get all the tweets related to these words.
Impression: It is a number. It tells you how many times your post have been see
by users on social media. e.g. Your page on Facebook has been visited by 20 users,
then it means you have 20 impressions.

Influencer: A Social media user who has large number of followers and has
potential to influence their followers. They can create awareness about any topic,
issue, trend or brand. e.g. Bhuvan Bam runs a YouTube channels and has more
than 1 crore followers. Whatever he asks for his followers are ready to listen to
him. (One can read the comments he gets)
F2F, P2P: Face to face or people to people. When a conversation or dialogue on
social media takes place directly it is known as F2F.

PPC: It is Pay per Click. It is online advertising model. Advertisers display ads on
various websites or search engines and pay when any visitor clicks through.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization. It is a set of various key words. It helps to
improve the visitors to the website from search engines. This increases the chances
of the website appearing near the top of search engine results pages.
When we search something on Google, but get some websites as result. It is
because of high SEO.
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 SMO: Social Media optimization. It is all about using social media platforms to
connect with larger audiences and to build publicity. It helps to increase the traffic
and rank of particular website.
SML: Social media listening is finding and tracking online conversations, around
keywords, phrases, events, brands, business and products. This is known as Social
media listening. By listening to these conversations one can find the pattern and
trends that will warn of a crisis, development of the product, improve customer
service and help to understand the audience.
Tag: It is one of the applications social media provides. It is most often used on
Facebook and Instagram. It provides the facility to link the profiles of the persons
shown in the photo. By tagging all the people from the photo, it increases the
connectedness and also increases the chances of further conversion.
Thread: It is a series of comments or discussion posts on any social media
platform.

Traffic: Number of visitors to a particular website or platform is called as traffic.

Trending Topic: The much talked or discussed topic or hash-tags on social media.
On Twitter you get a list of trending topics.
UGC: User Generated Content. A content generated by the users of social media
on various platforms.
DM: Direct messages, also known as DM. These are private conversations that
occur on Twitter. Both the users should be following each other to send and read
messages.
Viral: When a message or post reaches to the large number of the readers/users
within less time it is known as viral.

1.7 Check Your Progress:

1. Write about the advantages of new media’s.

2. What are the characteristics of New Media?

3. Write about any three popular new media platforms in India.

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 Unit-2: Information Society and New Media, Networked
Society
Unit Structure:
2.1 Learning Objectives
2.2 Introduction
2.3 Information Society
2.3.1Before Information Society
2.3.2. Defining Information Society
2.4 Characteristics of Information Society
2.4.1 Criticism of Information Society
2.5 Basic understanding of Knowledge Society
2.6 Networked Society
2.7 Check your progress

1.1 Learning Objectives

After completion of this unit the learners would able to understand to:

 Define information society

 Check the characteristics of information society
 Know the advantages and disadvantages of information society
 Differentiate between knowledge society and networked society
2.2 Introduction

In the previous unit we have seen the concept of new media. In this unit we are going to
see how new media has brought the change in our lives and overall in the society.

More than 138 crore people live in India. We have a huge population of variety of
colours, cultures, castes, class, religions, rituals, life style, food, clothing and many
more. We have 22 scheduled languages spoken by most of the Indians. But as per the
report released in 2018 by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India
there are more than 19,500 dialects are being spoken. This has a huge impact on our
literature and culture. This diversity makes us unique in the world.

To fulfill the information and entertainment needs of such a huge and diverse
population India has equally huge and diversified communication system. We have
television channels, newspapers, magazines, radio stations and films.

We have more than 370 private FM radio stations along with this All India Radio has
about 450 FM stations. In smaller communities India has 289 community radio stations.

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 Total numbers of television channels are more than 900 out of which news and
current affairs channels are more than 400. We have more than one lakh registered
newspapers and thousands of registered magazines. India is one of the major
producers of films. More than one thousands films are being made in a year in
different languages.

With these traditional media platforms there is a boom of new media. As per the
report of 2020 Statista.com, India had nearly 700 million internet users across the
country. The use of smart phones and various applications is increasing day by day in
India.

In shorts, India has extremely diversified information and communication system. With
this huge system, the information is pouring in our lives. Sometimes it is necessary and
sometimes even not wanting but now we cannot avoid the flow of information. So, one
may have many questions regarding to this. What are we doing with the floods of
information? Is all information relevant to us? Is all information trustworthy? Is all
information usable? Is this information helping us to become knowledgeable? Is this
information helping us to clear our confusion or adding to our confusion? What are the
advantages and disadvantages of such huge information? These are some of the
questions one may have after knowing huge and diversified information system India
has.

In this unit we are going to try to answer as much as we can. Once we understand the
concept of information society (IS) then many things will fall in place and that will
clear. So, let’s get started.

2.3 Information Society

If we take the latterly meaning of the two above words then we understand the society
where information is the major key factor. Dictionary.com defines society as an
organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural,
scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes. And on the same source we get
definition of information as knowledge communicated or received concerning a
particular fact or circumstance.

So we believe the information society is an organized group of people associated with

knowledge concerning a particular fact or circumstance.

Of course this is literally meaning of information society. And the concept is much
deeper than this. Let’s try to understand this.

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 2.3.1 Before Information Society

If we look at the human evolution then we get to know about different ages. Stone,
Bronze and Iron Age these are the rough categories. In these phases the use of stone,
bronze and iron was at the center of all the human life respectively. Human evolution
can be seen in another category.

First, human beings lived as hunters and gatherers. They use to kill animals and
fulfill the basic, minimum needs. Then as per the need of settling down arises then
comes the agrarian society.

This phase of human development continued for a longer time, more than thousands of
years. Agricultural practices transformed the human life tremendously. Human lives
started to take the shape of society. It gave rise to domestication of animals and plants.
Less needs, less food produce, less opportunities, economy based on agriculture,
limited variation of social classes, limited division of labour these are some of the
major characteristics of agrarian society. During these thousands of years, profession
related to agriculture were took shape but the production was limited. That was the
agrarian society, and hence the focus of the human life or society was agriculture.

Then come the industrial age. The focus of human life was changed. Major changes
took place mainly in the life style and in the economy. The mass production of material
goods was started. To achieve the mass production huge industries were built-up, big
plants were set up. Then there was need of new market where they can sell this huge
produce. The industrial revolution was started in Europe and particularly in England
but gradually diffused throughout the world. The industrial society was characterized
by huge industries, large use of fuels, increased scale of production, new markets,
variety of consumers and suppliers, urbanization, new means of transportation, use of
huge machines and large and cheap labour.

Post-industrial age, there was arrival of an information age. Many people associate
information age with rise of internet but it is not true. Information age was started much
before the invention of internet. The notion of the information society was introduced
Tadlo Umeaso in 1963. He defined the information society as the society getting
informed through the computer. Martin Bangemann also defined information society
for the European Committee. He says Information society is ―the revolution based on
the information, which is a picture of human knowledge.

Technological progress makes possible to process, storage, regain and pass the
information, in every possible form – verbal, written or visual – unrestricted by
distance, time and volume‖

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 In simple words, whatever was the center of the life becames that age. Earlier it was
stone, iron, agriculture then industries and then information. In this age information
has changed the things and with modern and developed technology, it has changed
all aspects of life drastically. Some of the changes are impossible to imagine earlier.
Let’s see the concept in detail.

2.3.2 Defining Information Society

There is no single universally accepted definition of information society. And not all
researchers accept the notion of information society. Some of them introduced different
terms. Daniel Bell called it as post-industrial society. Alvin Toffler talked about the
Third wave society. Peter Drucker introduced the concept of knowledge society. Manual
Castells talked about network society and Armand Mattellart called it communication
society. And this is was happening more or less at the same time. Though they have
given different name to the era, all of them agreed on the point that this is the society
where the social and economic life has changed immensely.

Daniel Bell has written a book titled „ Post-Industrial Society‟. He has given some of
the major characteristics of the post-industrial society in 1999. He writes:

1. In post-industrial society there is a shift from manufacturing to services

2. The nature of work and employment is changing drastically in post-
industrial society
3. Education is the key to success and not the inheritance of any business or
property
4. Human capital is considered more important than financial capital. And
hence investing in people will have huge returns.
5. Transportation was important in industrial society and in post-industrial
society communication is considered most important.
6. In post-industrial society the emphasisis given on ―intellectual technology‖.
7. In an industrial society the labour was crucial and in post-industrial society
knowledge is considered as the source of invention and innovation.

Above mentioned points help to understand what type of society is information society,
in which we live in. But one may also think that it is a new concept and arrived with
innovation of new technology and that is internet. So, that is not the case. The concept
has not evolved with the emergence of internet and smart phones. After World War II
many countries and scholars have realized the importance of information. They have
understood by having variety of information many things can be changed be it
economy or culture or life style, image building or people’s perception. But even before
that, we have read how one important invention played a key role in spreading the
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 information and helped to bring revolutionary change in the society. And that is
printing technology.

Around 1440, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press which started printing
revolution. Since then we have seen how free information can have huge impacts on
human life. With printed books the knowledge and information was easily available
to common people and that brought a real change in the society.

In simple words, the society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and
integration of information is a significant activity, is known as an information society.
Information has taken place the production of goods. And with the new technology
information spreads rapidly. This is not a new phenomenon but received new
dimension with new technology.

Some Examples:
Following are some examples of information have changed the dynamics of our lives.
These examples prove that we live in Information Society and it has affected our lives
beyond our imagination.

Information has an impact on economy. The entire focus is only on the service sector.
Earlier it was on primary (agriculture and allied) or secondary (industries and allied)
sectors. Let’s take an example of food delivery service provided by Zomato. Do they
cook and supply the food? NO. They just deliver. There are hotels, there is technology,
all the information about the hotels, menus and prices is available. With the help of
available information and new technology, the company called Zomato just supplies the
food which was ordered online. There are many such services are available which do
not sell any product but utilizes the available information and technology and make
huge business. Some examples are:

1. Uber (taxi service), Trivago (gives information of hotels) and Swiggy

(online food delivery mobile app)
2. Information is sellable. There are various services which are running only on
personal information of the consumers. Facebook and Instagram are such
popular examples in India. You or your friends must be using Facebook.
What do you there? Most of us upload picture and other opinions or
information on these platforms. One may think that these platforms provide
space to express yourself but in reality they sell your information and get
profit.
3. In agriculture, traditional plants, seeds, tools are about to vanish. Or great
attempts are being made to preserve them. Big corporate companies use
media and spread the information about new genetically developed seeds for
more production, new tools and techniques of agriculture. The marketing of

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 this information is done in a way that most of the farmers do fall for them.
The space to cross-check the authenticity of that information is less or none.
4. With arrival of internet the world has changed drastically. It has truly
become the global village as Marshal McLuhan has said. Communication
takes place without any barrier. No geographical, language, cultural, political
and social boundaries can stop communication, if you have access to the
internet. The graph below shows how the world is connected with the
internet. More than half of the population use internet globally.

Almost 4.57 billion people were active internet users as of July 2020, encompassing 59
percent of the global population. China, India and the United States rank ahead all other
countries in terms of internet users. (statista.com)

2.4 Characteristics of the Information Society

Here we assume that the society in which information is the key factor and with high
technology we can utilize that information for betterment of our life, this is known as
Information Society.

There are many advantages of such society. Some of them are listed below:
1. Communication: Do you think these days, reaching to any politician and
sportsperson or film actor is comparatively easier than ever before? Why?
Because virtually you can communicate with them easily. So, in information
society communication has become quicker, cheaper and more efficient with the
help of advanced technology.
2. Reducing the gap: When you plan a trip what is the first thing you probably
do? You will google it. You likely to use Google Maps, Right?
With the new technology sharing of information and communication has

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 become really easy and with that we can reduce the cultural, linguistic,
geographical gap and reduce boundaries in true sense.
3. Scope for new jobs: Have you ever heard about a business without any
industry or huge investment? Hard to imagine in industrial society...not in
this society. You must know Uber taxi service. Uber does not own taxies,
nor do they produce anything. They are just providing taxi services by hiring
local taxies and by hiring drivers. There are many such service based jobs
are available these days.
4. Open service: Most of the banks have their mobile application, because
banking sector is also changing with the time and technology. The biggest
benefit of this service is that banking is no more limited to working hours of
the week days. It is open for 365 days 24X7. In this information society the
services are not bound to the watch, they are open for 24hours.
5. Speed: With the new technology and availability of internet many things
have changed. The speed with which information reaches to us has
increased. It takes minutes to get particular service at your doors in cities and
in smaller villages also different services are reaching to them faster.
6. Democratization: Earlier only media professionals could comment, write,
talk about any issue, they used to give importance to certain issues and they
decide to ignore certain issues conveniently. But in the information society
the communication has truly democratized and because of that any common
user of internet can voice her opinion. Internet has given voice to voiceless.
7.
2.4.1 Criticism of the Information Society
There are plenty of advantages of Information society, no doubts. But it is not all
positive. There has to be another side to the coin. Following is the major criticism
Information Society:
1. Unemployment or insecurity in jobs: Do you remember, earlier the single
screen theaters used to have hand painted film posters? Is there any space to
those painters in this information society? No. These days we have digital
posters, printed on machine. While IS has created new jobs it has also
vanished some traditional jobs. Thus the new technology has created
unemployment in some sectors. This is just an example. We can get number
of such stories.

2. Cultural Imbalance: In this information society the world is a village. It

simply means that everyone is well-connected with one another. This helps
to reduce the cultural and language barriers. But the fear is in this global
village only dominant players get the space. Like for an example, English is
considered as global language, most of the technology in available in English

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 hence there are fair chances that other regional languages do not get that
much space and left unnoticed. As per one report, a language dies a day and
so does the worldview
3. Security issues: The dominance of the information and high technology
comes with some security issues. There are hackers and so many other mal-
practices common in today’s online society. Your personal data, photos,
personal details can be misused by the hackers, some illegal organisations
and even by your own government.
4. Trust worthiness: You must have heard the words like ―fake news‖ ―going
viral‖ and ―fact check‖. If a website is giving the list of best colleges or
hotels in the city you cannot blindly trust that information. You have to
crosscheck it. These days there is an issue of trustworthiness. No doubt there
is a flood of information but to decide what to trust and what to ignore is a
task in this information society. We get lots of, convincing and well-
constructed yet contrary messages that we get confused and do not
understand what to trust.
5. Threat of Artificial Intelligence: With the lasted and updated technology
and hugely available information there is an increasing threat of artificial
intelligence. There are lots of arguments going on artificial intelligence.
Many things are being done with the help of machines and mobile
applications that is one of the biggest challenges human intelligence isfacing.

2.5 Basic Understanding of knowledge Society

After information society this is the age of knowledge society. Information is refined
form of data which we have to think how to use. On the other hand knowledge is
known as understanding of the data and its meaning and to know how to use that data.
It is all about awareness of the subject through education or experience.

All societies have knowledge and it has always played an important role in the rise and
development society. But this stage of society is different and unique. As it is has
knowledge but this stage is different and unique as the means of production and
common source of livelihood is knowledge.

Knowledge society is the society which is economically and culturally characterized

by a high degree of dependency on their potentials to create scientific and
technological knowledge. In simple words, the society in which the creation,
dissemination and utilization of information and knowledge has become the most
important factor of production. In such societies knowledge is considered as
knowledge assets. In such societies, knowledge is far more important than the financial
investment, huge factories, huge labor, huge land.

This concept is closely associated with the term information society. It is considered
that the term was coined by Peter Drucker. He was Austrian born American

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 management consultant.

He said, knowledge is now fast becoming the one factor of production, sidelining
both capital and labour. And because everything is available readily, this is the time
of specialization.‟ Because of the advanced technology and availability of internet
everybody knows something of everything so to prove you have additional
knowledge, you need to have specialization in that particular subject. So increasingly
demand of specialization is one of the characteristics of this knowledge society.

The information society should ideally evolve into knowledge society where
information does not just exist but everyone should have equal access to it and that
quality information should be used for the development of an individual or a society.

In a report, published in 2003, UNESCO talks about four principles that are essential
for the development of equitable knowledge societies:

a) Freedom of expression

b) Equal access to education

c) Universal access to information especially in the public domain.

d) Giving expression to cultural diversity.

There should be strong commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms and
there should be space to right to education and of all cultural rights. In information
society the information is available but not everyone can have access to that
information. In knowledge society there should be free access to the public domain of
information. And another characteristic of knowledge society there should be
encouragement to cultural and linguistic diversity.

2.6 Networked Society

Along with Information Society, Knowledge Society, there is another term used in this
era and that is Networked Society. It is related with networked digital information and
communication. After understanding meaning of Information and Knowledge Society
let’s check the concept of Networked Society.

As per the Wikipedia, it is a type of future ecosystem in which widespread internet

connectivity drives change for individuals and communities. A society in which the
internet connectivity forms a network where everyone is virtually connected with one
another is known as Networked society. Here we can define connectivity as a device

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 which can digitally communicate with and transfer data to other systems through a
real-time communication network (This has been elaborated in the fourth unit).
People of the networked society are supposed to use this connectivity to improve
their lives and business.

The term network society was coined by Jan van Dijk in his 1991 Dutch book De
Netwerkmaatschappij (The Network Society) and by Manuel Castells in The Rise of
the Network Society (1996), the first part of his trilogy The Information Age.

Van Dijk defines the network society as a society in which a combination of social and
media networks shapes its prime mode of organization and most important structures
at all levels

Manuel Castells talked and explained this concept of Networked society. He says,
technology and society are interwined. The society is characterized by profound shifts
in technological development and innovation. Castells says, „a society whose social
structure is made up of networks powered by micro-electronics-based information and
communication technologies.‟He also adds, historically, social networks are always
existed in every societies, but the key factor in the 20th century is the use of ICT
(Information Communication Technologies) This helps to create and sustain the new
social relationships and hence the social networks.

The societies, group of people are virtually connected with each other not only for
personal but for professional reasons also. Facebook is the most common examples
where all the people around the globe (who have access to internet) can become
member of groups depending upon their interest or purpose. WhatsApp, instant
messaging application is another example of networked society.

Virtual connections, no geographical barrier, communication free from the limitation

of time and space, use of technology as infrastructure, decentralization of
communication and communication without any hierarchy these are some of the
characteristics of networked societies.

These are the effects of development of technology and its impact on the society we
live in. Information, knowledge and networked societies, they do existed earlier too
but in this era these things are the centre of the life and has changed the
communication, means of production and power structures of the society and hence it
is important to understand these concepts.

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2.7 Check your progress

1. Explain, what is information society with suitable examples.

2. Write advantages of information society.

3. Define networked society.

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Unit-3: Technological Determinism
Unit Structure:

3.1 Learning Objectives

3.2 Introduction
3.3 Definitions

3.1.1. Technology

3.1.2. Determinism

3.1.3. Concept of Technological Determinism (TD)

3.4 Technology Determinism(TD)

3.5 Some Popular Examples

3.6 Types of TD

3.7 Some Supportive Thinkers

3.8 Criticism of TD

3.9 Check your progress

3.1 Learning Objectives

After completion of this unit the learner will able to understand;

 Various terminologies
 To explore the concept of technological determinism,
 To know the advantages and disadvantages of technological
determinism
3.2 Introduction
In last ten years what are the changes have you seen in the society where you live in?
Do you think our lives have changed since 2010? If yes, in what respect? Try to think
you will get your answer. As per the data released by internetlivestats.com, in 2010 the
penetration of internet was 7.5% of the population and in 2016 the penetration was
34.8% of the population. In 2020, it has raised even more. As per the statista.com, in
India 76 million people were using smart phones in 2013 and in 2020 there were more
than 696 million users of smart phones. The numbers speak everything. The
tremendous change in the usage of mobile phone, usage of internet, online services,
admission process, facilities of entertainment, business and means of communication,
these are some of the major examples we can talk about. There are many, but these are
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 prominent. What is the reason behind this?

Let’s talk about another situation. Your parents or grandparents must have learnt how
to use smart phones but do you think they know how to use desktop or laptop? In
India, generally people are more comfortable with mobile phones than computers.
And we do not need any research for his, just look around and you will find the truth.
Smart phone is the latest invention as compared to computers, but still it is more
popular and user-friendly. The way smart phone is designed even an uneducated
person (irrespective of age and gender) can easily use the phone without any difficulty.
Thanks to the new technology.

In last unit we have seen how today‟s society is known as information society because
information is at the center. The information is bombarded upon us, constantly. The
major reason for this is there are various sources of information. These sources provide
information from all corners of the world and we receive (sometimes even
unnecessary) loads of information on every single second on each and every topic
under the sky and beyond that. There are newspapers, television channels, radio
stations, magazines and along with these traditional media we have media platforms
with newer technology. There are N number of websites, online newspapers, blogs,
social networking sites, micro-blogging sites, video sharing sites and what not.
Invention of computers helped us to process the data with tremendous speed. After
computers internet has arrived. It has changed everything. Computers and internet
helped us to connect with the entire world. As Marshal McLuhan said, world became a
global village. And today we are living with smart phones. Smart phones are
inseparable part of our lives. All this is happening because of technology. In this unit
we are going to see how technology has affected not only individuals but also our
social, cultural, political lives.

Of course when we talk about technology is not only about smart phones and internet.
But yes, it is primarily about that. Because in this era, technology has huge impact on
our lives, like never before. And hence, we should understand the role technology
plays in shaping our personal, professional, social, cultural, financial and political life.

In this unit we are going to discuss various aspects of the technology and its impact on
the society at large. We all understand the meaning of the word „technology‟ or we
have some understanding of the concept. In this unit we are going to discuss this
phenomenon in details.

3.3 Definitions
Technological determinism is the theory that a society's technology determines its
cultural values, social structure, and history. According to the theory, social progress

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 follows an inevitable course that is driven by technological innovation.
Technological determinism has two central concepts:

1)that technological development itself follows a predictable, traceable path that is

beyond any cultural or political influence.

2) that the technology in turn organizes society in a way to further develop itself.
The communications theorist and media scholar Marshall McLuhan laid out one
famous example of technological determinism in his book Understanding Media: The
Extensions of Man, wherein he asserted that "the medium is the message." This
rejection of "content" in favor of the technological medium as an important
consideration in media studies is only one facet of technological determinism, but in
many ways it is the classic example. In order to understand the details of technological
determinism, we need to understand the basic concept of what technology is? So, let is
discuss the meaning and concept of technology in details:
3.3.1 Technology
Let’s discuss the definition of technology first. Dictionary.com says it is the branch of
knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their
interrelation with life, society and the environment. It can be defined as a scientific or
industrial process, invention, method or the like. Technology can also be defined as the
sum of the ways in which social groups provide themselves with the material objects
of their civilization.

So technology is nothing new. Every era, age has its technology which introduces to
new method or inventions. When human beings were using stone made tools, the
invention of metal tools was change in technology and so on. There are many such
examples we can talk about. The way human beings used to collect the food has
changed because new techniques were introduced.
In this unit we are discussing technology, hence just for easy understanding we are
going to focus the latest innovations like smart phones, internet and laptops. But
that does not mean the concept of TD is limited to these examples only.
Technology is not limited to these examples. It is much wider than this. And
another reason for talking about these examples is we are concern specifically
about media and communication.

3.3.2 Determinism
Dictionary.com defines determinism as the doctrine that all events, including human
action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will. Some
philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no

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 free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.

In other words, determinism means to believe that events and choices are determined
by previously existing acts. Britannica.com says that the theory holds that the
universe is utterly rational because complete knowledge of any given situation
assures that unerring knowledge of its future is also possible.

Oxford university press has given following types of the determinism. In brief,
those types are:

1) logical determinism: this theory believes that the future is fixed as

unalterably as the past
2) theological determinism: this theory says that God knows everything
including future
3) psychological determinism: as per this theory depending upon some early
and initial experience we respond to different situations throughout our life.
4) physical determinism: this theory based on physical laws of nature and
many features of the world are dependent on these physical factors.

So, determinism means to believe that whatever we do, is the result of something
previously existing factors and that factor may vary as per the types mentioned above.

Along with this classification, there is another type of determinism and that is
technological determinism. And now we are going explain this.

3.3.2 Concept of Technology Determinism (TD)

Let’s first understand the definition. Technological determinism is to believe that
whatever happens in a society is a result of technology. As per this theory, technology
is a driving force of the society and technology gives the shape to the society. Of
course, there are users of the technology and they use it for good or for bad. But it is
equally important to understand what kind of technology is available. The theory says
that the advancement of technology decides the nature of the society.

In simple words, technological determinism is the belief that technology in any given
society defines its (society’s) nature. It is believed that American scholar Thorstein
Veblen coined this word and explained it in terms of society, institutions and
technology.

German philosopher, economist and socialist revolutionary Karl Marx (1818-1889) is

one of the major influencers of the century. He has changed the perspective and the
world view in many ways. He has stated that the technological progress lead to newer
ways of production and hence.

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 Thus technology will have impact on culture, politics, and economy and in large
societal structure. As an example we can talk about the transformation of agrarian
society to industrial society. Along with the technology of production everything
changed.

It is believed that American sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929)

has coined this term. He is known for his books like The Theory of the Leisure Class
(1899) and The Theory of Business Enterprise (1904). He was a supporter of Marxist
ideology along with some differences. Veblen has stated that the institutions in the
society determine how technologies are being used. Some institutions are better,
formal and users than other institutions. He suggested that the institutions should have
instrumental role in the use of technology. But he did explain the importance and
impact technology can have on the society. He stated that every society is dependent
upon the usage of various tools, techniques and skills.

We can explain above mentioned example. In agrarian society, the means of

production and income, the structure of society and ways of communication was
completely different as compared to industrial society. In industrial society the
production was huge and there were big machines and factories, the large number of
laborers used to live in small houses. As the technology of production changed the way
people used to live changed. And the change was humongous.

Let’s check another example: the invention of printing press. The availability of books
has changed many things in the world. The knowledge made freely available to
common man. Before that some powerful people used to tell them what is right. With
this system only a few people became more influential. With books having information
changed everything. The printing technology allowed everyone to have information. It
gave power to common people. Communication scholar Marshall McLuhan believes
that because of the printing the society moved from oral culture to a literate culture.

The invention of smart phones could be the best example of technological

determinism. In previous unit we have talked about how things have changed because
of smart phones and internet. Smart phones and internet have changed the way we live
our life. Be entertainment or education, be it communication or business, be it cultural
practices or political programs, everything has changed. It has greater impact then we
can imagine. And that is why it is fine example of technological determinism.

Strict adherents to technological determinism do not believe the influence of

technology differs based on how much a technology is or can be used. Instead of
considering technology as part of a larger spectrum of human activity, technological
determinism sees technology as the basis for all human activity.

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3.4 Some Popular Examples of TD
Here, we will talk about how technological determinism has affected social life in
India positively. As theory suggests how the technological advancement has
translated into development of the society. Following are some popular examples in
Indian context only:

In India, highly computerization has transformed the banking sector completely.

These days most of the banks in India are computerized. And hence today banking is
hassle- free, convenient for banks as well as for the costumers. This is a good example
of technological determinism. It has not only saved time and energy but it helped to
increase the financial literacy in India. Also newer technology bringing new changes.
According to Forbsindia.com 532 billion people are using mobile wallet in the year
2016-17, and RBI says in the same year there were 2,22,475 ATM (Automated Teller
Machines) centres in India. One can just imagine what kind of impact it has on
individual, business and economy of the country.

1. Satistica.com says India has emerged as the fastest growing mobile internet
market in the world in recent years. With increasing mobile subscribers,
and an ever-growing mobile internet penetration, the country has become a
poster child for mobile communications. Indians took to mobile
applications with ease and eagerness. In fact, in 2019, over 19 billion
mobile apps were downloaded in the country, compared to just over six
billion in 2016. We have mobile applications for everything. You just name
it and there will some mobile applications. Be it business, entertainment,
education, shopping, video- audio-photo editing and sharing, games, food,
matrimony, travel and what not. You can’t even imagine a person with
smart phone and not using any mobile application.

2. Instant messaging service called whatsapp, social networking site Facebook

and video streaming site YouTube, these are the most popular social media
platforms in India. It will be difficult to find a young person with mobile
phone but not using any of these platforms. One may find it impossible to
spend a day without Facebook, Whatsapp or YouTube. Statista.com says
29% of the population of India uses these social media platforms. All kind
of information (necessary or unnecessary, authentic or fake, rational or
irrational, everything) from all over the world is at your finger tips.

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3.6 Types of Technological Determinism(TD)
Depending upon the intensity of usage of technology, there are two types of
technological determinism:

3.6.1 Hard TD
This type of technological determinism talks about greater influence of the
technology on the society and does not talk about other forces. The supporters
of this type believes that it is only technology shaping the society and other
fields of the life. This type of determinism believes that the impact of
technology is dominant and irresistible e.g. Smart phones help to develop the
society. It is assumed that use of smart phones certainly help to develop the
society.

3.6.2 Soft TD
This type of technological determinism talks about lighter influence on the
technology on the society. The supporter of this type believes that technology is
one of the factors shaping the society. This type of determinism believes that
the impact of the technology is not that dominant and other factors are too
important e.g. Smart phones may help to develop the society. Here, it is
assumed that usage of smart phones could be factor to develop the society. It
could be one of the factors.

3.7 Some Supportive Thinkers

Following are some of the thinkers who supported the technological determinism.
The list is not exhaustive and inclusive.

1. Clarence Edwin Ayres (1891-1972) He was American thinker and was

associated with Texas School of Institutional Economics. He has worked with
Thorstein Veblen. He was critical of capitalistic society and talked about
struggle between technology and ceremonial structure of thesociety.

2. Charles A. Beard (1874-1948) He was an American historian. He believed

that the machines have powers which common people do not have. And hence
can bring the change. In his essay titled „Time, Technology, and the Creative Spirit
in Political Science (1927)‟ he has argued that „the technology marches in seven-
league boots from one ruthless, revolutionary conquest to another, tearing down old
factories and industries, flinging up new processes with terrifying rapidity.

3. Robert L. Heilbroner(1919 –2005) was an American economist and historian

of economic thought. In an essay written by Donald MacKenzie titled
„Knowing Machines: Essays on Technical Change ‟Hewrites, Heilbroner
believed that technology, by way of its machines, can cause historical change

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 by changing the material conditions of human existence.

4. Merritt Roe Smit(1948) He is also an American historian. He has done his

doctoral research on history of technological inventions and social change.
He believes that technology is the key governing force of the society.

5. Lelia Green is an Australian philosopher. Green believes that one can't stop
progress, and we are unable to control technology.

6. Langdon Winner (1944) is a New York based scholar. Langdon Winner

proposed that technologies embody social relations. He was referring to the
power. He believes that the process of technological development is critical in
determining the politics of an artifact. He also said that the changes in technology
are the primary and the most important source that leads to change in the society.

3.8 Criticism of TD
Along with technological determinism there was another theory developed and that is
social determinism. This stands completely on the opposite side of the TD. When TD
talks about the how technology advancement helps to develop the society, social
determinism says it is not the technology but the major social issues which help to
develop the society. Modern theorists of technology and society do not consider TD
suitable. Technology is important but the nature of society and other cultural, political
and economic systems are equally important and they all together help to develop a
society. To support this argument we can take an example. All the Asian societies have
internet and access to smart phones but the development of these societies varies. Even
we can talk about Indian scenario. The technology is not neutral. It takes place in the
society and the structure of society matters. Society decides to accept or reject any
technology. Scholars like Sarah Miller, Ralph Schroeder, Brian Winston have talked
against TD. They all believe that technology is not the single force to change the
society but there are other factors too.

Technology as such not good or bad, it is about the people who use that technology.
So, it is not solely about technology. It is also how we, as social institutions like
schools, religious places, political parties, citizen forums and media use the
technology.

3.9 Check your progress

1. What do you understand by Technological Determination?

2. How new technology has affected our news consumption?
3. What is the criticism technological determination has to face?

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Unit-4: Computer Mediated Communications
Unit Structure:

4.1 Learning Objectives

4.2 Introduction
4.3 Computer Mediated Communication(CMC)
4.4 Characteristics of CMC
4.5 Types of CMC
4.6 Advantages of CMC
4.7 Popular tools used for CMC
4.8 Criticism against CMC
4.9 Check your progress

4.1 Learning Objective

After completion of this unit you will able to understand;

 The concept and characteristics of Computer Mediated Communication

 To know the advantages CMC
 To check the popular tools
 To look at the criticism of CMC

4.2 Introduction
You must have heard the stories about how your parents used to communicate when
they were separated from each other for some reasons? It was mostly through letters.
In-land letters and post cards were popular and the most common ways to
communicate then. It used take 4 to 8 days to get the message, depending upon the
distance.

Then telephone arrived. And the scene changed. It took a few minutes to connect with
the person. But then if we want to connect with a person living in other countries we
have to make a trunk call and we have to wait to get the connection from telephone
exchange. Apart from some noise and disturbances in the line, communication was
fast.

And now we live in another era. Now imagine the same situation today. Two people
from other town or state or another country (or even from another planet), we can

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 connect with them. (We are trying to connect with other planet also) Today, for
communication distance does not matter. The communication is beyond the political
borders.

Communication is the ability to share information. We need communication.

Communication keeps businesses and work running. It helps people in to contact
each other. We contact police, fire departments, ambulances and doctors through
communication. A lot of things would be useless, and almost nothing would work
without communication. Transportation and food supplies would not meet the needs of
the people. We would loose contact with our families and friends that live far away.
There would be no newspapers, no radio or television stations to entertain us, or
movies to see. Society would surely not be the same as it is now.

Thanks to the new technology. There are new tools and techniques available which
have made communication easier, faster and clearer. And this can happen without
caring about the borders.
Before going into details let’s check some numbers:
According to official WhatsApp statistics, as of May 2018, WhatsApp users all
over the world sent 65 billion messages per day. On average 29 million
WhatsApp messages are sent per minute.

Statista.com says, roughly 281 billion emails were sent and received each day in
2018, the figure is expected to increase to over 347 billion daily mails in 2022.

Facebook says, 350 Million photos are uploaded every day, with
14.58 million photo uploads per hour, 243,000 photo uploads per minute, and
4,000 photo uploads per second.

As per one report published in January 2020, there are 500 million tweets sent
each day. That's 6,000 tweets every second.

With these numbers it is very clear that with the new technology the opportunities to
share photos, opinions and messages have increased tremendously, beyond our
imagination. The speed and volume of communication have increased one may argue
about the quality of information which is being shared with one another. And also
though the numbers are from all over the world but considering population and love
for new technology, India is one of the biggest consumers of this content.

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4.3 Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)
This concept is very easy to understand. This is the advanced form of human
communication using various tools and techniques. As the name suggests
communication which takes place through computers that is known as computer
mediated communication (CMC). Following are some formal definitions:

1. CMC is any form of communication between two or more individual

people who interact and/or influence each other via separate computers
through the Internet or a network connection - using social
software.(Wikipedia)
2. CMC can simply be put as a transaction between two or more network
computers. (Communicationtheory.org)
3. CMC is a process in which human data interaction occurs through one or
more networked telecommunication systems. A CMC interaction occurs
through various types of networking technology and software, including
email, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), instant messaging (IM), Usenet and
mailing list servers. (Technopedia.com)

4. CMC is any communication patterns mediated through the computer (Metz,

1992, p.3).
5. An interaction or collaboration in audio, video, or text formats with another
human being or the computer through the use of different electronic tools
and technologies.

6. For many of us, CMC is no longer a novelty but a communication channel

through which much of our business and social interaction takes place, and
this transformation is expected to continue (Walther and Burgoon, 1992,
p.51).
7. CMC refers to the human interaction occurs through the various types of
technologies and electronic devices for connecting virtually.

Once we understand the CMC then we know it is about using computers and internet
to communicate with two or more people without thinking about the geographical
location. CMC involves one to one, one to many or many to many exchanges of text,
audio, and or video messages through modern technology.

Some examples of CMC are instant messaging, email, chat rooms, online forums,
websites, portals, social network services which allows us to share files, photos, videos
and chart-graphs or any other material.

This can happen because today the whole world is connected. Thanks to the invention

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 of internet. We cannot imagine the world without internet. Internet is the pillar of the
modern information society. As per the facts given by Statista.com, „the global
online penetration rate is 59 percent, with Northern Europe ranking first with a 95
percent internet penetration rate among the population. As of 2018, Asia was the
region with the largest number of online users – over 2 billion at the latest count.
Europe was ranked second with almost 705 million internet users‟.

With these figures we get an idea of usage and importance of internet. With these
examples you must have understood that we all are into CMC.

4.4 Characteristics of CMC

Following are the major but basic characteristics of CMC:

1. Speed: CMC is advance form of communication and it has tremendous speed.
Message travels with highest speed, which is beyond our imagination. Two
people from two different continents can communicate with each other in real
time. This was impossible to imagine before this.
2. Interactivity: Though this is communication through some technology but
still it highly interactive. We always believed that face-to-face communication
is most interactive. But CMC provides that equal opportunity for highly
interactive communication.
3. Record ability: Like never before CMC provides facility to record the
communication. All the communication done through computer and internet
can be preserved as it as for any use. This is a unique characteristic of this
communication.
4. User identity anonymity: Users can hide their identity and still can
participate in the communication. It can be considered as good because then it
gives absolute freedom to express true opinions and sharing true feelings
without any fear. But it can be bad because then one can misuse the
technology and in the name of communication abuse, hate, discrimination can
be spread.
5. Free from boundaries: CMC gives opportunity to be free from all the
geographical boundaries. A person from Cuttack sitting in her house can
communicate with aperson sitting in her house at California, this can happen
only because of CMC.

4.5 Types of CMC

There are two types depending upon time in which the communication happens.

Depending upon the purpose of the communication, we can select the type of

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 communication we want.

1. Asynchronous: The computer mediated communication which does not

happen in a real- time that is known as asynchronous. It is consist of
activities like mail, reading web page, watching video clip and using PDF.
This gives time to the receiver to think and then react. This allows receiver
to get involved with the content, irrespective of geographical boundaries.
Some examples are emails, discussion boards, websites or watching or
listening to recorded video/message.

2. Synchronous: This type of computer mediated communication occurs in

real time This includes the use of real-time applications. There is no
geographical boundary to this type of communication. Examples are live
chat, live instant messaging and video call or online conference. The
advantage of this type of communication is spontaneity. But the flip side is
it does not give you enough time to think and consume the content.

4.6 Advantages of CMC

Now we have understood the computer mediated communication, its characteristics
and its types. Let’s check the advantages and disadvantage of CMC. Then we will
understand how it is affecting the society and our lives in general.
Following are the advantages of CMC:
1. Through CMC all the geographical boundaries in the communication
breaks down. In other words, distance becomes irrelevant factor in the
communication, which was important factor in earlier communication.
2. CMC provides facility to exchange, store, edit, broadcast and copy the
content or messages. In this way CMC is a unique type of communication.
No other communication gives this opportunity.
3. CMC happens at low cost. It is the cheapest way of communication. And
that is one of the reasons why CMC is becoming popular day by day.
4. CMC takes no time to deliver the message to the receiver. It happens within
fraction of second. Communication takes place in real time too.
5. In CMC, there is no vertical hierarchy in social relationships and
organization. Once participants of CMC have access to computer and
internet, their status, power, and prestige are not communicated as in face
to face situations.
6. CMC has space for anonymity. By providing a certain amount of
anonymity which eliminates stereotypical classifications makes people feel
less inhibited about communicating their ideas, opinions, feelings about
certain issues and as a result fosters more participation and contribution

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 from people who would otherwise feel intimidated.
7. CMC gives space to common people to become influencers through their
content and message without investing huge amount of money into it.
8. This is the communication where there can be one or more senders and one
and more receivers. The communication as process is complex as feedback
can be very fast.
9. Two or more people can look at a document and revise it together, consult
with each other on critical matters or ask for and give assistance
interactively, no other type of communication gives this type of facility.

4.7 Popular tools used for CMC

We have seen the examples of computer mediated communication and those are email,
chat rooms, online forums, websites, portals, social network services which allows us
to share files, photos, videos and chart-graphs or any other material.

Popular mobile applications in different sectors in India:

a. Travel: Make my trip, IRCTC

b. E-Commerce: Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon
c. Entertainment: book my show
d. Payment: Paytm, Google pay, Freecharge, PhonePay
e. Game: Teen Patti, Car run, Candy Crush
f. Utility: Just Dial, Quicker
g. Message: Whatsapp,hike, Telegram
h. Matrimony: Jeevansathi, Bharat Matrimony

With this, new technology has created space for the applications which are being
used for online communication and are popular worldwide. Following are some
popular applications which are not only popular but helped for better
communication:

1. WeChat
WeChat is a social chatting app that works on any mobile device. The WeChat
ecosystem consists of more than 1.2 billion monthly active users, over 20
million Official Accounts. [During COVID-19 outbreak] Average daily usage
increased by 30% More than 1 billion daily commercial transactions on
WeChatPay.
One great feature of WeChat is that you can call landlines and mobile numbers
from the app. This makes it a flexible option if other people don’t have the app.
This also opens the opportunity for people to call your business from the app if

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 they have questions or concerns.

2. Telegram
Instant messaging service Telegram has amassed 400 million monthly active
users, it said today. People can use the app on laptops, tablets, and mobile
devices. It runs on a cloud- based messaging service. With Telegram, you can
make an audio call or send messages. This app also has a Secret Chat feature
that lets you send timed messages.
Telegram offers numerous great features such as the ability to integrate bots,
stickers, and free downloads. It also enables you to choose a theme so you can
make your message more personal and reflective of your business.
3. Whatsapp
Almost a third of the world’s population uses WhatsApp — that’s how popular
this chat app is. And it’s no wonder. WhatsApp is easy to use — all you need is
a phone number to start using the app on your phone, and then you can also
install the desktop app. WhatsApp, also owned by Facebook, has surpassed
Messenger as the most popular social messaging app.
Withover1.5 billion users, it‟s extremely popular with mobile users. It allows
you to send text messages and make calls from smart phones and tablets. This
app is very user-friendly and free to use. WhatsApp has amassed more than 400
million users in India, the instant messaging app confirmed in 2019.
Unlike Facebook messenger, this app is based on phone numbers. It was
designed to replace SMS texting to help users with limited texting plans. This
messaging app offers numerous features. It enables up to 250 people in a group
chat, which makes it a viable option for businesses to use with customers and in
house.

4. Skype
Skype is one of the most professional messaging apps. It is a great option for
the everyday person or a business. This video calling app makes it easy to send
messages, make calls, and host video chats. In March 2020, Skype was used by
100 million people on a monthly basis and by 40 million people on a daily
basis. That was a 70% increase in the number of daily users from the previous
month, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many businesses use Skype because it‟s a simple and professional way to
connect with people. It enables companies to easily transfer files but keeps it
fun by offering emojis.
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 5. Facebook
It is a popular social networking site. Users share information (personal and
professional), their opinions, photos and videos. They can go live and chat with
other users. It has facility to like the content, other users can comment and share
the posts.
As of the third quarter of 2019, total monthly active Facebook users numbered
2.45 billion, making it comfortably the world's largest social media platform.
To give this a bit of perspective, this is 1 billion more people than currently
live in China.
6. Twitter
It is popular micro-blogging site, where users can voice their opinion, share
others opinion, and comment. One has to express in just 140 characters. It was
started in India in 2013. But it is now one of the most popular online
applications in India. As of 2018, Twitter had more than 321 million monthly
active users in the world. India has 17 millions users as of July 2020. Though
the number looks not very large but most of the politicians, celebrities, and
influencing personalities use Twitter in India.
7. Instagram
This is the application started to share photographs smartly designed for the
mobile users. It was launched on 2010 and attracted 25000 users in just one
day. Today, India has 100 millions registered users on Instagram. With over 1
billion monthly active users, Instagram belongs to the most popular social
networks worldwide.
8. Google
There no need to explain or give any figure to talk about Google and its
importance in our life. For Indians, it is synonym for internet. We use Google
so much that we forgot that Google is a California-based, multinational internet
company which provides digital products and services such as online search
and advertising, cloud computing and software. Google continues to dominate
search engine use, starting 2020 with an average net market share of 70.38% on
desktop, according to Net Market Share.

4.8 Criticism against CMC

With above mentioned points one may feel that there is nothing wrong with the
CMC. But that is not the case. There is another side to this. Following are the
points against CMC:

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 1. The access to the technology: The world is so imbalanced with the material
things that not all have access to the advanced technology. And this
imbalance may deny the participation in the computer mediated
communication. When you do not have computer, mobiles phones, internet
and even electricity then you are denying the opportunity to be part of this
type of communication.
2. Those who have access to the technology, not all of them are comfortable
with it. The inhibitions related to the computers and technology use may
discourage them not to use it.
3. The communication is dependent on external factors. The connectivity of
internet maybe a huge issue in this communication.
4. Electronic communication may be inefficient for resolving coordination
problems as telling another person you already have knowledge of
something he or she is explaining.
5. Lack of human contact makes CMC more impersonal. In CMC, users may
look at the computer/mobile screens and loose the eye contact with the other
side, this may lead to the less involvement in the communication. You can
think about a video call where a receiver is seeing him/herself in the front
camera instead of looking at you.
6. Lack of informational feedback is another issue. Sometimes, CMC does not
convey whether the other party is getting right messages and responses or
not. Imagine you have a post on FB, but you don’t know the feedback on that
post, unless someone comments.

7. Online bullying and trolling: These are the latest trends in CMC. The
anonymity gives the confidence to the users and they can misbehave online.
Users can use foul language and target the user who is not in your favour.
There are cases where teenagers have committed suicides after getting
bullied online.
8. In computer-linked groups whose members are discontented and in conflict
with one another, impersonal behavior might tend to polarize members,
exacerbate aggressiveness, and cause negative attributions to others.
9. In addition, using the computer tends to be absorbing and conducive to quick
response, which might reduce self-awareness and increase the feeling of
being submerged in the machine.
10. Lack of authenticity: In CMC anyone with a fake identity can participate in
the communication. And hence there is no authenticity. Fake mails, fake

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 messages and fake communication may lead to serious issues of security,
both personal and professional.

But there is an argument that nothing is good or bad in technology. It depends upon
who use it and for what purpose. It ultimately depends upon users how they use
computers or mobile phones. CMC is the new age communication; one cannot run
away from it. But one has to take more precautions in this type of communication.

4.9 Check Your Progress

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of computer mediated communication?
2. Write advantages of news applications with at least two examples.

3. How google has affected our lives, answer with examples?

Suggested Readings:
Vincent Miller. Understanding digital culture. Sage Publications, 2011.
Lev Manovich. 2001. ―What is New Media?‖ In The Language of New Media.

Cambridge: MIT Press. pp. 19-48.

Siapera, Eugenia. Understanding new media. Sage, 2011. Introduction.

Baym, Nancy K. Personal Connections in the Digital Age. Polity, 2010. Chapter 3.

Goldsmith, Jack, and Tim Wu. 2006. Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of

Borderless World. Oxford University Press US.

O’Reilly, Tim. (2005). What is web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next
generations software. Oreilly.com, retrieved from http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/whatis
web-20.html
Grossman, ―Iran Protests: Twitter, the Medium of the Movement‖

Lemann, Nicholas. 2006. Amateur Hour: Journalism without Journalists.

The New Yorker, August 7. Available at

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/07/060807fa_fact1 Xiang,

Biao. 2005. Gender, Dowry and the Migration System of Indian

Information Technology Professionals. Indian Journal of Gender Studies 12: 357-380.

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