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Government censoring the internet
Internet censorship
Positive and negative effects of social media on politics
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In a not so distant past, we lived in a world where most individuals did not have the means to immediately share information with thousands of others. In order to have your voice or opinion heard, you had to be wealthy or included with names like Gutenburg and Martin Luther to gain access to the airwaves or other modes of distribution used in the past. There was a huge segregation between producers and consumers. For hundreds of years, a select few were in control of what information and content could be disseminated. Now while this still may be the case today, it is argued that the gatekeepers of media have less of an influence over the types of content citizens can subscribe to. While there is some truth to this statement, this theory map …show more content…
He investigates the reasons why Internet users are not seeing the other 52% of people who share conflicting worldviews with us. The filter bubble explains why many citizens in the United Kingdom did not anticipate Brexit or many people in the United States were caught off guard when the votes for Donald Trump started outnumbering Hillary Clinton’s on November 8th. In this theory map, I intend on exploring the details behind these events as well as several other pressing issues that face each Facebook and Google user and the ways we can possibly counteract the filter bubble in order to foster a healthy …show more content…
However, while it may be true that the use of these networks furthers an assortment of perspectives that extend far beyond those ideas expressed in newspapers. Flaxman worries that they also ‘increase ideological segregation,’ a phrase that accurately depicts what is currently happening with the spike in filter bubbles. Within his work, Flaxman researches the web search history of a staggering fifty thousand users within the United States and finds that platforms such as Facebook and Google are responsible for an increase in the “ideological distances” between individuals (Flaxman et. al, 2016). The authors suggest that users naturally visit ideologically similar outlets as their closest networks online, in part because their partialities align with the websites that they visit most. Commentators on Flaxman’s work such as Sunstein (2009) predict that echo chambers are part of the package when comes with this newfangled mode of news consumption. People are simply more inclined to click articles that align with their political viewpoints. Flaxman’s paper makes it obvious that
In this article Mary Kate Cary opens up with the supreme court decision to not restrict the use of corporate funds in political advertising so that she can make her point that big money ads are not the most effective way for candidates to reach American constituents. She argues that social media is a new way for politicians to connect with citizens. Her five claim are that Americans can now, choose the media they wish to consume, share the media they choose the share, like posts they agree with and dislike posts they do not agree with, connect with others on social media, and donate to candidate campaigns online. With these claims she comes to the conclusion that politicians want to go around mainstream media so that they can connect directly with the voters.
Michael Parenti (2002) declares media in the United States is no longer “free, independent, neutral and objective.” (p. 60). Throughout his statement, Parenti expresses that media is controlled by large corporations, leaving smaller conglomerates unable to compete. The Telecommunications Act, passed in 1996, restricted “a single company to own television stations serving more than one-third of the U.S. public,” but is now overruled by greater corporations. (p. 61). In his opinion, Parenti reveals that media owners do not allow the publishing of stories that are not beneficial and advantageous. Parenti supports his argument very thoroughly by stating how the plutocracy takes control over media in multiple ways: television, magazines, news/radio broadcasting, and other sources.
Sean Blanda’s, “The Other Side Is Not Dumb”, uses cultural examples concerning the younger American generation involving, the medias influence and peer pressure vs the actual facts and proof, involved while forming a personal opinion. The author emphasizes how the effects of pressure from our surroundings, such as: friends, media, and more, adjust our view of political and social subjects. He includes multiple cases of where your own ignorance can hinder your learning and interaction with others. If you continue to have a negative outlook on people who disagree with you, you’ll never be able to consider yourself a curious person and participate in social media. “We cannot consider ourselves “empathetic” only to turn around and belittle those that don’t agree with us.”- Mr. Blanda
In response to James Fallows’ four premises in his “Learning to Love the (Shallow, Divisive, Unreliable,) New Media,” April 2011. I must say that while I want desperately to argue against his fears, as I am an optimist at heart, I cannot. I have turned this over and over and I have to say that with only a few points of specific contradiction, as a whole I agree. I believe that this is becoming an age of lies and idiocy. I agree that already there is a tendency for media to follow dollars instead of issues. I believe that we Americans are becoming more isolated. Finally, our ability to concentrate is not only undone by technology, but also by our own expectations to be entertained by the media. However, I do not think that the responsibility lies totally with the Gawker.coms of the world, but within ourselves. This is a trend that has been a long time coming. And, like a train down the track, it cannot be easily stopped.
In the current time, it seems like one cannot go a day without using at least one social media website. This might be especially true among groups of teenagers and young adults. Social media became a vital part of daily life that feeds people with several types of information constantly. Political news is a type of information that can reach the people through the means of social media. Since presidents are constantly seeking new strategies to increase their communication with the public in order to spread their political message, they utilize the different social media websites. Hence, social media became a platform to spread political message. It is not surprising that now the majority of political officials and candidates have social media accounts more than ever before, such as a Twitter account.
In this essay I will critique and analyze the article “The Daily We” by author Cass Sunstein. I will look specifically at Sunstein’s claim that although the internet has been commonly viewed as a blessing to our world and democracy, the joy that the internet has brought democracy must be monitored with a keen eye as the ability to “filter” what we see provides a viable threat as it welcomes more extreme views and group polarization. As I analyze Sunstein’s claim, I will provide a new point of view to reader on how the internet has done much the opposite as it has served as an outlet for limitless sources and a variety of viewpoints through social media in today’s world. I will also add voices of the other critics in which I believe are relevant
The book I chose to read is The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From Us by Eli Pariser. Pariser did a good job grasping my attention into this book. All the way through the text he used numerous examples from several credible outside sources to initiate these topics, ideas, problems, benefits, and solutions of the filter bubble. The text had an assortment of background stories and easily understood introductions allowing myself to understand the subject with ease. In addition Pariser avoided most of the technical jargon that only he could understand from being educated on the subject and having a background on Internet algorithms, formatting, and website administration. Pariser managed to draw me into the book using not only this easy to follow wording, but also because the subject of personalization and filtering of the internet was a recent concept to me, being one of the many people that at first thought we had almost limitless access to anything on the Internet. Since this day and age seem to revolve around technology and Internet use, the book appealed to me even more...
The use of media and popular culture is a sociological phenomenon wherein the structural changes to society, which accompany the emergence of new forms of communication and accessing information, can be examined. There are many differing views regarding whether media and popular culture are necessary to the functioning of a democratic and egalitarian society or whether they actually further social inequality and inhibit political discussion or involvement. Although both interpretations are arguably valid, it can be seen that it is not popular culture and the media in and of themselves but rather how they are consumed by the public that determine how these mediums influence individuals and by extension the wider society.
Biased opinions thrown everywhere online, from Facebook to Twitter and even to Snapchat. Within the recent election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, there was an intense amount of pressure put on young adults through social media for who they would be voting for. If, per say, a young adult posted a tweet that supported Trump, almost instantly they would receive hate mail or vulgar responses from those who disagreed with him (Sanders, 2016, para. 3). This bias went both ways, and opinions were formed for young voters that had only based their choice off of what was on social media and didn’t actually research what the candidates stood for. A lot of this happened in the 2012 presidential election also, between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, although instead of social networking sites, it was more about news channels. Channels like CNN portrayed biased news towards both candidates. In the article “Across the Great Divide: How Partisanship and Perceptions of Media Bias Influence Changes in Time Spent with Media”, it elaborates more on how CNN effected voters; “Respondents who thought the media were biased against Obama spent less time with conservative media and more with liberal ones, while those who judged the media as hostile to Romney spent little time with liberal and neutral media” (Kaye &
Over the past few decades our generation has witnessed a communication revolution no generation has ever witnessed before. The Internet was fully commercialized in the U.S. by mid-1990s and instant communication including the World Wide Web, email, and instant messaging have all played part of an enormous impact on media, commerce, and politics during that time and up until now. U.S. scholar and activist Robert McChesney has spent the past twenty years studying and documenting the effects of this Internet revolution and its relationship with capitalism and democracy. In his 2013 work “Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy,” McChesney addresses the relationship between the economic power and the digital world exposing how democracy is undermined by corporate capitalism’s control of the communications industry.
Though many have accepted what the outcome has been, there are a few people, like ourselves, who wanted to breakdown these social media statistics and research why many other candidates were not represented enough nor being advertised in our newsfeed except for the candidates we “favored.” And while most might become bias when it comes to social media and how it is involved in politics and presidential campaigns, Facebook has become the most highlighted website for audiences to keep up to date with candidates and their involvement as well as the leading website for false clickbait news. This literature review will uncover the truth behind seeing such advertisements on our Facebook pages and why we see what they want us to see and not what we
Winograd, Morley, and Michael D. Hais. Millennial Makeover [electronic Resource] : MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2008. DiscoverE. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .
One of the fundamental roles of the media in a liberal democracy is to critically scrutinise governmental affairs: that is to act as a watchdog of government to ensure that the government can be held accountable by the public. However, the systematic deregulation of media systems worldwide is diminishing the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in policymaking process governing the media (McChesney, 2003, p. 126). The relaxation of ownership rules and control, has resulted in a move away from diversity of production to a situation where media ownership is becoming increasing concentrated by just a few predominantly western global conglomerates (M...
...iser, Eli. The Filter Bubble: What Is the Internet Hiding From You? New York, 2009. Print.
Internet has been acknowledged as one of the most efficient way to collect and reflect public opinions, for that people with different classes and races can express their opinions with no obstacles in virtual network spaces. People can speak out whatever they want just by typing on the keyboard within a second. Dr. Heather Savigny mentions in her article “Public Opinion, Political Communication and the Internet” that “The expansion of the internet as a new method of communication provides a potential challenge to the primacy of the traditional media and political parties as formers of public opinion” (1). People realized that the power of internet public opinion in the focus on social issues can be used as a weapon to affect government decision-makings. However, does public opinion only brings positive effects?