The Internet and Social Media

Chapter 4

“The Internet changes everything”

-Bill Gates

History of computing

• 1642: Adding machines were the first computers. French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the arithmetique – a machine that could add numbers up to 1 million (he invented it when he was 19).

• 1671: German mathemetician Gottfried Wilhelm von Liebnitz explored binary arithmetic (which is the system modern computers are based on).

• U.S. 1880s: Herman Hollerith invented a computer that used punch cards and electrical circuits to do calculations. He would later form the company International Business Machines

• US 1940: Howard Aiken developed the first binary system based computer at Harvard, a few years later ENIAC was constructed

ENIAC: weighed two tons, was two stories high

History of computing

• 1950s: invention of transistors, integrated circuits and silicon chips let to smaller, cheaper, faster computers.

• 1970s: PCs for home and business use, with prepackaged software emerges.

• 1980s: invention of the modem, development of LANs

• 1990s: smaller computers, laptops, wireless modems

History of computing

• 2000s: Portability is key. Computers get smaller. Advent of netbooks, smartphones and tablet computers.

• Current historical contribution: Cloud computing, loss of physical media

History of the Internet• What is the internet’s #1

priority and function?

COMMUNICATION• 1957: USSR launches Sputnik,

in response the US gov’t forms the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in 1958

• Part of the Dept. of Defense; established to get the US in the lead in military science and technology

ARPANET

• A need for decentralized communication • Having information stored along nodes,

sharing packets• If one node is destroyed, the information

(packets) are safely backed up in multiple locations, communication is not disrupted

• Developed out of fear of the Cold War or other global catastrophe

History of the Internet

• In 1969, four major nodes are connected to ARPANET

• UCLA• Stanford• UC Santa Barbara• University of Utah

History of the Internet

• At first, it was widely used for academic research and communication, and development of the WWW as we know it today was underway

• The first email was sent: 1972• 1975: Newsgroups are a popular form

of communication• 1977: UNIX operating system is

developed• 1978: TCP/IP specifications are made• 1979: first use of emoticons :-)

History of the Internet

• 1984: the internet starts being used in businesses and colleges/universities; Domain Name Systems (DNS) are created

• 1989: ARPANET project is decommissioned • 1989: term WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW) is

coined by Tim Berners-Lee• 1990: The World is the first dial-up service, and

the WWW is available to everyone (with a modem!)

The World Wide Web

• Tim Berners-Lee publishes “Hypertext and CERN” (Conseil Eurpoeenne pour la Recherche Nucleaire)

• Proposal that was meant to enable collaboration

• Technologies that were introduced: HTML, HTTP and a GUI browser

History of the Internet

• 1993: first GUI browser, White House comes online, businesses and media start to get on the internet

• 1994: internet shopping, first internet “spam,” first banner ads

History of the Internet• 1995: JAVA launches, Real

Audio, traditional dial-up systems begin service (CompuServe, America Online, Prodigy), The Vatican comes online, first official internet wiretap used by Secret Service and DEA, Operation home Front connects soldiers with their families via the internet

• 1996: VOIP in development, various ISPs experience large outages due to growing numbers of users

History of the Internet• 1998: electronic postal

stamps, open source software comes of age, e-commerce, auctions, emerging technologies – e-trade, XML, internet security/firewalls

• 1999 – 2004: P2P programs, cell phones, eBay

• 2004: Facebook starts• 2004 – present: “web 2.0,”

increased interactivity, user generated content, social networking, Twitter

What is new media?

• The integration of computers, computer networking and multimedia

• “directly deals with new cultural objects enabled by network communication technologies, new media is focused on the cultural and computing – the products of electronic communication and the act of computing define what it is to have “new media””

• Interactivity, convergence, randomness, automation, modularity (one piece built on and reacting to another)

Apps

• The most recent chapter of Internet development, apps were first designed as special software environments for mobile devices (now the term extends to include most software)

• As of 2011, more than 60 million apps were downloaded by iPad users, alone!

TED talk related videos

• http://www.ted.com/talks/roger_mcnamee_six_ways_to_save_the_internet.html

• (2006) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhLejlWS_ug

• http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_berners_lee_the_year_open_data_went_worldwide.html

The evolving internet

• Broadband: high speed internet access, typically $45-70 per month cost, allows for far more functionality of a user experience than dial-up

• WiFi: wireless access to internet connection• WiMax: like WiFi, but with a longer range of

coverage (approx 10 miles)• Monetization of the web: ads, Google ads,

memberships, intangibles (in gaming, for example)

The evolving internet

• Blogs: A study done by the Pew Research Center found that in 2010 half as many teenagers blogged as in 2006.

The percentage of people in the 20– 40 age group who blog also declined. The Pew study suggested that young people have turned to Facebook and Twitter to express their opinions rather than start a blog.

Internet economics

• Internet has created about 1.2 million jobs. • Economists value the direct economic value of the Internet at

around $ 185 billion. That includes about $ 26 million in advertising$90 billion in retail sales (Amazon. com had revenues of $34 billion in 2010$70 billion paid to Internet service providers. Analysts estimate that the indirect financial benefit of the internet on the rest of the economy is about $ 440 billion.

• Advertisers now spend more money on online advertising than they spend on newspaper advertising.

• Online ad spending now accounts for about 15 percent of all advertising expenditures and this percentage is expected to grow.

Internet economics

Mega companies such as Apple and Google dominate the economic landscape of the internet. It is estimated that Apple will be the dominant force by 2012, with projected revenues doubling from 2010.

Internet economics

Website economics:1. Subscription sales: sites like The Wall Street

Journal, The Buffalo News, and pornography websites use a paywall; meaning subscribers must pay for content

2. Sale of merchandise or services: i.e. Amazon3. Sale of advertising: banner ads, sponsored

links or posts, classifieds, display ads

The Internet Audience• Feedback: Two major companies track

internet usage for clients; comScore and Nielsen/ NetRatings

• Pew Research Center calls the Internet the “ new normal” in the American way of life.

• 2 out of 3 adults use the Internet• On a typical day more than 100 million U.

S. adults go online to use e- mail, get their news and weather, search for specific information, or simply browse for fun.

• Teenagers use the Internet even more, with about 8 out of 10 reporting online use on a regular basis.

Social Media

Major characteristics of social media:1. Participate (such as voting behavior; i.e. liking

something)2. Converse (posting a comment)3. Share (creating and posting material)4. Collaborate (creating content with members of

a group; i.e. Wikipedia)5. Link up (social networks, friends of friends,

groups based on similar interests)

Social Media

• Facebook has over ONE BILLION users (Facebook.com, 10/8/12)

• 80% of teenagers are on social networks (Pew, 11/11)

• 46% of adult internet users post original photos or videos online that they themselves have created. We call them creators (Pew, 09/12)

• 41% of adult internet users take photos or videos that they have found online and repost them on sites designed for sharing images with many people. We call them curators. (Pew, 09/12)

Effects of Social Media

• Does not seem to impact usage of traditional media (most social media users are simultaneously utilizing social media and traditional media; multitasking)

• Changes the way we think of entertainment (more than 75% of digital video online is created by amateurs. No longer are professionally produced and distributed content our main source of entertainment)

• Has become indispensable to news gathering (postings on Facebook and Twitter are often a key source of info as news is breaking, YouTube videos broadcast on traditional news)

• Has become commercialized (it is now a feature of most marketing/advertising/public relations campaigns and efforts)

Monetizing Social Media

• Advertising on social media generated about $3.1 billion in 2011, projected to rise to $8 billion in 2016.

• Facebook dominates social media advertising, collecting more than $1.5 billion in 2010, mostly for display advertising on its pages.

• However, Facebook stock is not performing as well as projected; current prices are $20.40 (as of 10/09/12) a share; down from the IPO price of $38.00

Social Media as Mobilizers

• Flash mobs• Arab Spring (video) (video) (video)• Occupy Wall Street• Russia and China have even set up alternative social media

( Vkontakte in Russia and Kiaxin in China) where dissidents are more easily monitored.

• Social media may empower young people to assemble and throw off the reins of an oppressive regime, but the real test comes afterward when a new, more responsive government has to be created. So far, social media have not been as successful in promoting this more difficult task.

Negative Impact

• Social media interfere with productivity in the workplace

• Digital media are easily duplicated, archived, and shared. Your tweets, blog entries, Facebook postings, and photos are probably saved somewhere on somebody’s hard drive and may come back to haunt you.

• Many companies report that they routinely check the Facebook pages of job applicants. Candidates running for office in 2036 might have to explain why they made those controversial blog postings back in 2012.

Negative Impacts

• Cyberbullying can take many forms, including posting derogatory messages on a person’s Facebook page, posting embarrassing or unflattering photos, or harassing someone via instant messages, texts, or e- mails.

Social media have made its effects more serious. Online bullying spreads quickly and easily, and it has the potential to reach a large audience.

Negative Impacts• A recent study done by the Pew Foundation’s

Internet Project contained some troubling findings:

• One in three teenagers had experienced some form of cyberbullying

• Online bullies were generally the same age as their victims

• Girls reported more online harassment than boys• Those who experienced online bullying were

more likely to be depressed and were more apt to miss school.

• There have been several reports of teens who committed suicide following episodes of sustained cyberbullying.

Negative Impacts

• Facebook communication is not face- to- face communication. Updating your Facebook status every couple of hours, sending dozens of text messages a day, and posting clever tweets do not develop a person’s interpersonal communication skills.

Video: Sherrie Turkle “Connected, but alone – together”

Social Implications of the Internet

A new model for news:• Internet supplements the traditional surveillance function of the mass

media. When news happens, it hits social media first. News about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden first appeared on social media.

• No gatekeepers? This represents a shift in traditional journalism in which decisions are made by editors and flow from the top down. Now the news can start at the source and go “sideways” to all who are interested.

• Traditional news used to be a lecture; now it’s a conversation. • Blogs have questioned the accuracy of news stories in the traditional media

and have exposed several instances of sloppy or inaccurate reporting. • Internet provides additional checks and balances to the traditional news

media and makes them more accountable to the public.

Social Implications of the Internet

Information Overload: • Ultimate research tool: before the internet, students doing research

would have to look things up in a text, reference book, or encyclopedia— sources that had some recognized authority.

• Today, students can use a search engine to look for the topic. A Web search indiscriminately displays a list of “sources,” which may number in the millions. Every source on the screen seems to have the same credibility, even though some may be scientific documents and others comic books.

• There is so much on the Web that it is sometimes more overwhelming than useful.

• Students doing a conventional search would also have to assess the credibility of their sources, but the profuseness of information and the sheer size of the Net make this extremely difficult to do.

Social Implications of the Internet

Privacy concerns:

• In 2011, Sony discovered that a hacker had stolen the names, birth dates, and possibly credit card numbers of 77 million people who played online games using Sony’s PlayStation

• In 2009, a list of the names of 250 Los Angeles Police officers under investigation for alleged misconduct was mistakenly posted on the Internet.

• Some states have put the names and addresses of sex offenders on Web sites. Although the motives behind this practice may be understandable, the potential for harm due to incorrect or outdated information is substantial. – In North Carolina a family was harassed because their address was listed online as the home of a

known sex offender. The sex offender had actually moved away many months earlier, but the entry was never removed from the database.

• Many companies now charge as much as $150 to do online searches that will disclose someone’s current address, Social Security number, bank account number, criminal record, and work history.

• Identity theft

Social Implications of the Internet

Escapism and isolation• Does the Internet detach people from other people? • As more and more attractions go online, will we spend

even more of our lives staring at computer screens? • Some psychologists have identified a condition known

as Internet addiction, similar to drug or alcohol addiction.

• Early studies of Internet users revealed that those who spent many hours online also showed signs of isolation and depression.

The future: The Evernet• Experts predict that in the next 10 years advances in technology will enable

microcomputers (that could be outfitted into anything: clothes, appliances, etc.) to carry Web addresses and be connected continuously to the Internet.

• Imagine a furnace that automatically orders new filters over the Internet whenever it senses that the old ones are dirty. Imagine wearing a tiny computer that automatically unlocks your car, opens your garage door, pays your toll and parking fees, and reminds you that your tires need to be rotated.

• The Evernet (also called the Supranet or Internet II) will mark the convergence of wireless, broadband, and other devices, resulting in your being connected continuously to the Internet anywhere using any information device.

• The Evernet will merge the virtual world with the physical world. • Smart houses, appliances with data, health monitoring