After reading Cristina-Georgiana Voicu’s
article, “The Impact of New Communication Technologies in the Social and
Journalistic Environment,” I was able to connect many ideas presented in the
article to what we have discussed in class. The article explains how new
communication technologies are influencing society, especially in relation to
democracy and politics. Voicu writes about how we are now in a society “that
has become dependent on highly complex electronic information and communication
networks,” which we have thoroughly examined in class. She goes on to write
that many different types of changes – such as institutional and
ideological/value changes – in addition to the presence of technological and
economic systems, create this said society. All of these different factors come
together to create an entirely new society.
This article also provides different
paradigms used to expound social transformations in our information society. These
are helpful in understanding the various viewpoints on these technological and
social shifts. In addition to talking about more general concepts, such as explaining
what changes led to the creation of our current society, Voicu also addresses
more specific issues, including how new communication technologies can cause
political issues. She goes into how these technologies increase the ability of
individuals to express themselves in public, but also limit their participation
in political communication; this fragments public space into “partial spheres”
that have no relation to one another.
What this fragmentation does is create
passivity in citizens, causing dominant elites to take over, which then
increases the already present asymmetry in public space. Voicu goes into detail
about current debates about the Internet, how new practices in communication are
affecting democracy, and the pros and cons of the Internet regarding the
political realm. She concludes the article by stating that those who are
involved in political and media scenes will be able to diversity interactions
with voters using the Internet, reinforcing the point that the Internet is the
ultimate possessor of power. This article is a great one to read to get a basic
understanding of the general ideas of new media technology before applying
those concepts to a real life situation that applies to us all – political matters.
Voicu, C. (2013). The Impact of New
Communication Technologies in the Social and Journalistic Environment, Scientific Bulletin of the Politehnica
University of Timisoara. 12(1/2), 5-16.
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