Premium Essay

Characteristics Of The Internet Utopia

Submitted By
Words 1212
Pages 5
Idealists of the Internet utopia also emphasize the internet’s ability to bring people together and let individuals find accepting communities or those of common interest. In this online utopia, individual users would be able to access various online communities and websites with users having similar interests, concerns, and opinions. For example, Rheingold (1993) was able to obtain information, interact with users online, and be part of an online community through the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link (WELL). In the WELL, individuals were able to exchange information, share concerns, and also interact with other WELL users. Launched in 1985, it was one of the few virtual communities with a large range of users and discussions at the time (Rheingold, …show more content…
Online communities like the WELL ‘...requires one to give something, and enables one to receive something’ (Rheingold, 1993, p.52). This idea of giving and receiving regarding online communities is often emphasized by proponents of the Internet utopia. These proponents envision that all participants of virtual communities, forums, or wikis will ‘...keep [their] friends in mind and send them pointers instead of throwing [their] informational discards into the virtual scrap heap’ (Rheingold, 1993, p.52) and that communication between individuals online will be ‘...a marriage of altruism and self- interest’ (Rheingold, 1993, p.52). This often is not the case in modern forms of user participation online. Though there are virtual communities that promote positive ideals, …show more content…
Individuals today may have ‘...a new and potentially deadly addiction: cyberspace’ (Fackler, 2007). This is mainly due to ‘...ready access to the web’ (Fackler, 2007) causing users to not be able to ‘tear themselves away from their computer [or mobile] screens’ (Fackler, 2007). The internet can also be the cause of other ‘...psychological consequences, such as depression or anxiety’ (Campbell, Cumming and Hughes, 2006, p.69), especially among ‘over-users’ (Campbell, Cumming, and Hughes, 2006, p.69). Over-use and over-access of internet technologies are often seen as the main cause of internet addiction and the negative heath effects caused by technology. However, online environments themselves can also be contributors to these adverse effects by providing ‘...an uncritical and safe haven for those with psychological distress’ (Campbell, Cumming and Hughes, 2006, p.78). These psychological and general health issues surrounding the web adds to its more dystopian image.
Proponents of the Internet utopia often emphasized its characteristic of not having authority, being unmonitored, and supporting individual freedom. However,

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Technology and Progress in Brave New World

...Upon entering the “Squat Grey Building” that is the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre; you will see the motto of the World State: Community, Identity, and Stability. These three words reflect the ultimate goal of the Utopia that is the World State. “Community” means that everyone within the Utopia must work together to maximize happiness for the society as a whole. “Identity” refers to the five classes of hereditary social groups that are created through genetic engineering. Finally, “Stability” refers to the ultimate goal of the Utopia. By creating similar people and censoring and controlling actions, the society looks to minimize conflict, risk, and overall change. The three goals of the World State are completely controlled through the use of science and technology in Brave New World, which thereby stripped its residents of all social aspects and personal freedoms. By creating the Brave New World Huxley shows the importance of technology and progress to society, which makes us stop and consider how our current progress and advancements in technology have affected our society as a whole. Before looking into how people in the World State are restricted from having any free will, it is important to define what it means to be human. In my opinion, all humans are born with free will. I would define free will as the equal and inalienable rights to be an individual who can make their own choices. The ability to act at one’s own discretion without constraint...

Words: 1322 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

The Circle by Dave Eggers

...Cristal Zeas Professor Rogoff FYE 1320 April 1, 2014 Sharing is Caring In present day society, individuals dedicate their time to social media on the internet and electronics, towards updating statuses, rebloging pictures, favoriting videos, reading up on current events, and staying connected in general. It’s only been 25 years since Tim Burners-Lee invented the world wide web and it’s no secret that it is one of the most progressive and influential invention of our time. Dave Eggers, in his current book The Circle, foretells his version of what can happen with the growth of technology and social media and pushes our current standard of being virtually connected from the main social networks Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Tumblr. In this book, focusing on the ninth threshold of social networks and the technological self, we notice the influence of technology on societal construction and deconstruction of privacy and the nature of democracy impacting humanity’s digital life. Set in an undefined future time, Eggers’s novel tells the story of Mae Holland, a young idealist who comes to work at the Circle, an immensely powerful technology company that has conquered all its competitors by creating a single log-in for people to search, shop and socialize online. The company demands transparency in all things; two if its many slogans are “secrets are lies and privacy is theft.” Anonymity is banished; everyone’s past is revealed; everyone’s present may be broadcast live in video...

Words: 2335 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Ecumenopolis- the Future of Cities

...Subject Code: APBL20045 | Subject Name: City Future | Student ID Number: 563013 | Student Name: Joel Madeira | Assignment Name or Number: Final essay | With reference to at least one work of fiction, critically discuss how science and technology feature in utopian or dystopian planning of future cities. The city of the future needs to change. With the population increasing at a rapid pace, more and more people favor to live in urbanized area. The result of the urban population explosion means that there is a need to change the physical dimension or space in cities, in order to cope with such a large amount of people. Cities will be dramatically restricted with the aid of science fiction and technology. This paper investigates how Ecumenopolis, the science fiction concept of city layout could be implanted or influence the future of cities, followed by how technology such as: transportation and telecommunication, could help satisfy social needs, which may again reshape the structure of cities in the future, finally by using examples from science fiction theme movies and novels to illustrate how humans could reshape their future cities and whether these advanced innovations would lead to a utopian or dystopian society. The most crucial element that cities of the future would face is in relation to the increasing population. It is unavoidable that for the next few decades, global population growth will escalate intensely. According to Vidal (2012), by 2050, 7 billion of...

Words: 3482 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Fascism

...4 March: City of God – Utopian Reader – include a little bit on it – 22 volumes in all. Christianity – Augustine – classicly trained greek scholar. City in north Africa. Story like apostle Paul – orginially a person who persecuted Christians – north African wealth family from – found enlightenment in Christianity. Once he joined became one of the early scholars trained in greek – regulized Christian theology. Influence on western world – top four or five who influenced. Confessions and City of God his writings…look up! What’s the purpose of improving human society – complex – why do it? Can human society be made better? Why bother, what is the point, justification? Takes effort, misery involved, change, unknowns, takes energy, takes risks. HAPPINESS – justification for improving society. What do you have to have to be happy? What is happiness – PHI 101 – happiness according to whom? Lack of misery; literally the elimination of misery. Secondly, food – gives pleasure – Happiness is lack of human misery and maximizing /pleasure and happiness. Bliss 24/7 – hedonism Epicureanism – eliminating misery and maximizing happiness. The justification of utopianism = why did plato want the republic? Justisifcation for improving human society among the Greeks? Poor always poor, always unhappy, death claims everyone - it is rational to maximize pleasure and eliminate misery. Do eternally accouding to plato. Opinions – 1. Relativism is a retreat in the 20th century. Can’t...

Words: 44275 - Pages: 178

Premium Essay

The Future and Beyond

...The Future Beyond Utopia With the advent of future developments in science and technology, we will assign more and more decision making to machines. At present this is evident in military systems in which electronic sensors maintain the ideal flight characteristics in advanced aircraft. The capacities of computers today exceed five hundred trillion bits of information per second. The complexity of today's civilization is far too complex for human systems to manage without the assistance of electronic computers. Computers of today are relatively primitive compared to those that will evolve in the future. Eventually the management of social systems will call for require electronic sensors interconnected with all phases of the social sequences thus eliminating the need for politics. Today modern industrial plants have built in automatic inventory systems, which order materials such as bearings and other mechanical replacements well in advance. We believe it is now possible to achieve a society where people would be able to live longer, healthier, and more meaningful productive lives. In such a society, the measure of success would be based upon the fulfillment of one's individual pursuits rather than the acquisition of wealth, property, and power. Although many of the concepts presented here may appear as unattainable goals, all of the ideas are based upon known scientific principles. It is not my purpose to write an article that would be acceptable to people this is...

Words: 3273 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Information System Literature Review

...Information System Literature Review Team A University of Phoenix Information System Literature Review Paper Over the last 10-15 years, the gaming industry has come an extraordinary long ways in development and growth. This particular industry continues to grow and improve from year to year. The newest generations have come from board games, to video games, and finally computer games. The computer games have developed from two dimensional (2-D), three dimensional (3-D), and virtual environments. Gamers get to experience revolutionary virtual realities known as massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). To understand the growth into MMORPG’s, a game developer must research the history, theory, some negative implementations, and contemporary best practices of networking, the opportunities, and innovation with the field of MMORPG’s. Historical development of the field The first computer game produced was 2-D in 1962 (Thomson, 2008). This was just a simple game where two players controlled his or her spaceship and attempted to destroy the opposing player. This was the lead into an ever-evolving world of gaming. The gaming industry has evolved into virtual world environments. This type of gaming has unleashed a world where players create an avatar in which can look anyway they want. This has allowed the gamers of today a way to communicate in a new way. It has even gone as far as allowing people a new way of learning (Barnett, 2010). Colleges are...

Words: 2522 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Marx

...THE PROBLEM WITH WORK A JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN CENTER BOOK THE PROBLEM WITH WORK Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries KATHI WEEKS Duke University Press Durham and London 2011 © 2011 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper co Designed by Heather Hensley Typeset in Minion Pro by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH LOVE TO JulieWalwick (1959-2010) Contents ix Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION i The Problem with Work i CHAPTF1 37 Mapping the Work Ethic CHAPTER 2 79 Marxism, Productivism, and the Refusal of Work CHAPTER 3 113 Working Demands: From Wages for Housework to Basic Income CHAPTER 4 151 "Hours for What We Will": Work, Family, and the Demand for Shorter Hours 5 CHAPTER 175 The Future Is Now: Utopian Demands and the Temporalities of Hope EPILOGUE 227 A Life beyond Work 235 255 Notes References 275 Index Acknowledgments thank the following friends and colleagues for their helpful feedback on versions of these arguments and portions of the manuscript: Anne Allison, Courtney Berger, Tina Campt, ChristineDiStefano, Greg Grandin, Judith Grant, Michael Hardt, Stefano Harney, Rebecca I would like to Karl, Ranji Khanna, Corey Robin...

Words: 116847 - Pages: 468

Premium Essay

Study Habits

...PERCEIVED BY SELECTED: FILM EXPERTS, MARKETING EXPERTS, HISTORIANS AND MASS COMMUNICATION STUDENTS A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Letters Bulacan State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication Major in Broadcasting by Adolfo, Jasmine Faye M. Añonuevo, Sabbyna R. Cara, Angelica P. Paguiligan, Noemi D. BAMC 4B Mr. Regemrei P. Bernardo MARCH 2016 Chapter I The Problem and Its Setting INTRODUCTION A film is a characterization of diverse emotions and motions of a society (Santillan, 1998, 155, as cited in Campomanes, 2015). As disciplines and fields of knowledge, History and Film differ from their own characteristics and potencies however as in the teaching of history, there are times when their relationship is evident. According to CCP (1994) historical films are “films based on biographies and events in the distant past.” Following this definition, it has been said that there are two kinds of historical films, one that uses history only as a context and the latter that attempts to directly represent a historical period, place or personality. (Navarro 2008, 134 as cited in Campomanes, 2015) The amount of information we gain from a book can hardly be equaled to the ones we gain in a film for the reason that a film is limited with its running time. Although with that being said, one thing that a book cannot duplicate from a film is that it can express...

Words: 13003 - Pages: 53

Premium Essay

Marketing

...How Global Brands Compete When a brand is marketed around the w orld, t hat fact alone gives it an aura of excellence-and a set of obligations.To maximize the value of global reach, companies must manage b oth. 68 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW by Douglas B. Holt, John A. Quelch, and Earl LTaylor I More than two decades ago, Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt provocatively declared in a 1983 HBR article, "The Globalization of Markets" that a global market for uniform products and services had emerged. He argued that corporations should exploit the "economics of simplicity" and grow by selling standardized products all over the world. Although Levitt did not explicitly discuss branding, managers interpreted his ideas to mean that transnational companies should standardize products, packaging, and communication to achieve a leastcommon denominator positioning that would be effective across cultures. From that commonsense standpoint, global branding was only about saving costs and ensuring consistent customer communication. The idea proved popular in the 1980s, when several countries opened up to foreign competition and American and Japanese corporations tried to penetrate those markets with global brands and marketing programs. T'S TIME TO RETHINK GLOBAL BRANDING. While the world economy continued to integrate, experiments with global branding soon slowed. Consumers SEPTEMBER 2004 in most countries had trouble relating to the generic...

Words: 4887 - Pages: 20

Premium Essay

How Global Brands Compete

...How Global Brands Compete When a brand is marketed around the world, that fact alone gives itan aura of excellence-and a set of obligations.To maximize the value of global reach, companies must manage both. 68 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW by Douglas B. Holt, John A. Quelch, and Earl LTaylor I More than two decades ago, Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt provocatively declared in a 1983 HBR article, "The Globalization of Markets" that a global market for uniform products and services had emerged. He argued that corporations should exploit the "economics of simplicity" and grow by selling standardized products all over the world. Although Levitt did not explicitly discuss branding, managers interpreted his ideas to mean that transnational companies should standardize products, packaging, and communication to achieve a leastcommon denominator positioning tbat would be effective across cultures. From that commonsense standpoint, global branding was only about saving costs and ensuring consistent customer communication. The idea proved popular in the 1980s, wben several countries opened up to foreign competition and American and Japanese corporations tried to penetrate those markets with global brands and marketing programs. T'S TIME TO RETHINK GLOBAL BRANDING. While tbe world economy continued to integrate, experiments with global branding soon slowed. Consumers SEPTEMBER 2004 in most countries bad trouble relating to the generic...

Words: 4861 - Pages: 20

Free Essay

Reviewer

...HISTORY AND THEORY STUDIES FIRST YEAR Terms 1 and 2 Course Lecturers: CHRISTOPHER PIERCE / BRETT STEELE (Term 1) Course Lecturer: PIER VITTORIO AURELI (Term 2) Course Tutor: MOLLIE CLAYPOOL Teaching Assistants: FABRIZIO BALLABIO SHUMI BOSE POL ESTEVE Course Structure The course runs for 3 hours per week on Tuesday mornings in Terms 1 and 2. There are four parallel seminar sessions. Each seminar session is divided into parts, discussion and submission development. Seminar 10.00-12.00 Mollie Claypool, Fabrizio Ballabio, Shumi Bose and Pol Esteve Lecture 12.00-13.00 Christopher Pierce, Brett Steele and Pier Vittorio Aureli Attendance Attendance is mandatory to both seminars and lectures. We expect students to attend all lectures and seminars. Attendance is tracked to both seminars and lectures and repeated absence has the potential to affect your final mark and the course tutor and undergraduate coordinator will be notified. Marking Marking framework adheres to a High Pass with Distinction, High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, Complete-toPass system. Poor attendance can affect this final mark. Course Materials Readings for each week are provided both online on the course website at aafirstyearhts.wordpress.com and on the course library bookshelf. Students are expected to read each assigned reading every week to be discussed in seminar. The password to access the course readings is “readings”. TERM 1: CANONICAL BUILDINGS, PROJECTS, TEXTS In this first term of...

Words: 22588 - Pages: 91

Premium Essay

How Global Brad Compete

...How Global Brands Compete When a brand is marketed around the world, that fact alone gives it an aura of excellence-and a set of obligations.To maximize the value of global reach, companies must manage both. 68 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW by Douglas B. Holt, John A. Quelch, and Earl LTaylor I More than two decades ago, Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt provocatively declared in a 1983 HBR article, "The Globalization of Markets" that a global market for uniform products and services had emerged. He argued that corporations should exploit the "economics of simplicity" and grow by selling standardized products all over the world. Although Levitt did not explicitly discuss branding, managers interpreted his ideas to mean that transnational companies should standardize products, packaging, and communication to achieve a leastcommon denominator positioning that would be effective across cultures. From that commonsense standpoint, global branding was only about saving costs and ensuring consistent customer communication. The idea proved popular in the 1980s, when several countries opened up to foreign competition and American and Japanese corporations tried to penetrate those markets with global brands and marketing programs. T'S TIME TO RETHINK GLOBAL BRANDING. While the world economy continued to integrate, experiments with global branding soon slowed. Consumers SEPTEMBER 2004 in most countries had trouble relating to the generic...

Words: 4875 - Pages: 20

Premium Essay

Chapter5

...This article was downloaded by: [University of Macau Library] On: 09 October 2014, At: 18:24 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Chinese Journal of Communication Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcjc20 “Platonic relationships” in China's online social milieu: a lubricant for banal everyday life? Yann-Ling Chin a a Arts, Humanities and Education, Nottingham Trent University , UK Published online: 14 Nov 2011. To cite this article: Yann-Ling Chin (2011) “Platonic relationships” in China's online social milieu: a lubricant for banal everyday life?, Chinese Journal of Communication, 4:4, 400-416, DOI: 10.1080/17544750.2011.616286 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2011.616286 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied...

Words: 10055 - Pages: 41

Premium Essay

Home

...What teachers want parents to understand Ron Clark, an award winning teacher from Atlanta, has a few things to say to parents about how they can help, rather than hinder, their kids’ teachers. He starts off with an anecdote about a great principal who resigned because of burnout, not from dealing with unreasonable students, but from dealing with unreasonable parents. This problem, Clark says, is pervasive among teachers and administrators and something needs to be done to stop the talent drain before the pool of passionate educators runs dry. Here are some of the basic things he wants parents would understand: Teachers are professional educators, not babysitters: If they offer advice, take it into consideration rather than getting defensive. Trust the teacher’s word. Stop making excuses for your kids. It’s not the end of the world if your kid gets in trouble, or even fails: Kids need to learn about consequences. Meeting with a teacher to fight a bad grade undermines this lesson. Good grades don’t necessarily mean good teachers: It’s often the best teachers who expect the most from your kid. Instead of mindlessly bad-mouthing the teacher in front of other parents or, most of all, your kids, take the time to find out what’s going on. Having taught high school, for a millisecond, I can relate to most of Clark’s advice. Most, that is, but certainly not all of it. The article does come off, in places, as if the teacher is always right. But I do believe there is an us-against-them...

Words: 3491 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Miaws

...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSICS EDITION OF G EORG E B E R N A R D S HAW ’S PYGMALION By LAURA REIS MAYER BUNCOMBE COUNTY SCHOOLS, ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA S E R I E S E D I T O R S JEANNE M. MCGLINN, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Asheville and W. GEIGER ELLIS, Ed.D., University of Georgia, Professor Emeritus 2 A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion TABLE OF CONTENTS An Introduction .......................................................................................3 Synopsis of the Play .................................................................................3 Prereading Activities .................................................................................6 During Reading Activities ......................................................................13 After Reading Activities .........................................................................21 About the Author of this Guide .............................................................29 About the Editors of this Guide .............................................................29 Full List of Free Teacher's Guides...........................................................30 Click on a Classic ..................................................................................31 Copyright © 2007 by Penguin Group (USA) For additional teacher’s manuals, catalogs, or descriptive brochures, please email academic@penguin.com or write...

Words: 11837 - Pages: 48