Tensions of Communication on the Internet

1. Tensions of Communication on the Internet Chapter 3 Shedletsky & Aitken

2. Modern Communication is Developing Along Two Fronts • Globalization of Personal Communications; • Centralization of Mass Communication;

3. Globalization • A positive, good thing; • Democratic potential • Direct participation in decision-making • A negative, bad thing; • Problems caused by free access to information • Destroys individual cultures

4. Cyberspace • Cyberspace to refer to the Internet; • Cyberspace as a metaphor for a imagined environment, a psychological experience; • Cyberspace as a contradictory pull between the real and the unreal;

5. Theoretical Roots • Theories of long-standing tensions in communication help us understand the Internet: • Connectedness-Separateness • Certainty-Uncertainty • Openness-Closedness • Conflicting needs of Intimacy and Independence • The Inner-Outer Dichotomy

6. Humanist vs. Behavioralist • The humanist examines how the individual makes sense of the world: Meaning; • Transformational Grammar • Discourse Analysis • Ethnomethodology • The beharioralist examines communication rooted in observable behavior; • operationalization

7. Adoption & Diffusion • Diffusion of innovation occurs as a process of social change; • People are using the Internet more and more;

8. Informing vs. Conversing Informing: One-Way Communication Conversing: Two-Way