Q7-Q14 Flashcards
- What is meant by the domestication of technologies and why is this exemplary of cultural studies?
- exemplary of cultural studies because it looks at how people make sense and give meaning to, in this case, a new technology
Putting user experience at the center of technology - technology arises as an interaction between different groups, among which an imp one is the users
Evolution of the scope and usefulness of a technology
Domestication - appropriation of technology by user
- Acceptance
- entry of tech into personal space - Objectification
- objects are physically located within the personal environment - Incorporation
-fitting technology into routines and personal life - Conversion
-displaying of technologies to others, sending mess about ourselves
Agency of user in shaping what technology is used for and its place in society
- Explain the following statement: technological development is a social process articulated in dominance.
Relationship between technology and society:
Technology and tech development are answers to:
- societal circumstances
- dominant ideologies
- existing power relations
The social construction of technology:
= interactive process among technologists and social groups
Thus, technology appears, and is understood (decoded, appropriated etc) by the interaction of its users within the current social structure.
Articulated in dominance:
Admits a degree of agency coming from users (avoiding technological determinism), but recognises this agency happens and is limited by existing societal constraints
Last but not least
- society and technology interact with each other in the sense that technology shapes the society by which it is shaped
- What is a technological revolution, as defined by Freeman and Perez, and why is it not a social revolution as Marxist thinkers would define it?
- Define technological revolution
freeman and perez:
Radical innovations vs technological revolution
Tech revolution
- new tech paradigm
- !!!!!!!!! permeates entire society !!!!!!
- social innovation
(Ex: Industrial Revolution, Automobile and mass production)
- Define Marxist revolution
- deterministic view on history (hegel and marx: dynamics of human history)
- eras of history: increased div of lab and priv
Revolution - fall of the system itself
Tech Rev - change in society inside the current system
Marx rev - change of the system itself; collapse of system
- What is likely to happen in a media market that is free of regulation? Substantiate your answer with examples borrowed from industrial economics
- What is industrial economics?
- response to unrealistic neoclassical econ assumptions
- reaction to …..
- dynamics between firms at a real-life level
Tendency towards concentration (mono, oligo, strategic all)
Why? Profit max - cost min - rev max - incr productivity
+ economies of scale
Economics of scope
Unethical (dumping, predatory pricing) + undermines principle of competition
- Develop both a cultural studies and a political economy perspective on social media. How does social media contribute to social emancipation or not?
A. Cultural Studies approach
- Culturalist approach
- free share of info, participation, utopia all good and amazing - Jenkins
Critique:
- fandom confused w pol activism
- not nec progressive fandoms
- echo chambers
- overestimate cogn of people
- Multidimensional approach
Soc Media can prove emancipatory, but the extent to which it is has to do with - Power Relations
- Affordances
- Practices
- Discourses
- social media can be emancipatory, but it is embedded in existing unequal power relations
B. Pol Econ Approach
- marxist lense
preoccupied with the commercialisation and commodification of media
-> media as an INDUSTRY prone to concentration
Who owns it? Who produces it? Who receives it?
All type of commodification
- content
- attention
- targeted advertisement
- prosumption
-> FUCHS: society turned into a factory
Labour - users produce their own content
Critque
- economic reductionalism & generalisation
- no common sense (expl of users)
- no practical insights
CONCLUSION
Soc media - both enabling and constraining
- Explain Fuchs’ view on the internet and the economy and give a critique. Elaborate a critique using the arguments developed by Garnham.
Fuch’s view on internet
- draws from Marxist theory: exploitation and accummulation are inseprable
New ways of exploitation and profit max: PROSUMPTION
Thus, internet is exploitative + COMMODIFICATION
- of content
- of user’s attention
- of people’s taste
-producer of own consumption (e.g.: tik tok)
-> the society has turnt into a factory: increasing commodification and extension of the space of labour and exploitation
CRITIQUE - GARNHAM
- Economic reductionism
- Counter hegemonies: how internet contributes to counter culture
- Distorted view of exploitation: can a child labourer be less exploited than a tiktok user?
- How does Habermas public sphere theory relate to cultural studies and the political economy of communication. How can you reconcile both viewpoints?
Habermas
-18th c
- restricted voting rights
- specific locales (actual spaces)
Intellectual approach
- idealisation (equal access, foster rational debate and development)
- generalisation (good for society)
-public sphere fills the gap between private and the government
What is the public sphere?
- a site for debate to take place
-accesible to all members of society
- realm of rational debate
-opinions of the site shall be recognised by authority
WTF is this question actually??????
- Develop a critique (positive as well as negative arguments) of social media and the public sphere.
Democracy requires an active, developed public sphere. Media has failed in providing a realm of rational debate and equal access. Internet has the potential to fill in this role and reinvigorate democratic culture.
- lower cost of entry
- mentorship and skill sharing and teaching
- easier access
CRITIQUE
- colonialisation of cyberspace: platformisation
- monitoring of users
- customisation & algorithms
- inequalities of access
- fragmented opinion enclaves - echo chambers
