OUA/NET12 (NET102): The Internet: A Socio-Technological Introduction - Essay 2 (Curtin)

Grade: High Distinction (80%)

Essay Question:
Critically evaluate this statement: the Internet offers a space where people may resist oppression on a daily basis; it overturns traditional structures of power and control.

Inner Space – Creating a New Me

The inner space of the Internet encompasses a wide variety of applications that enables forms of empowerment to its users. By using these applications, users can further develop their own skills, knowledge and confidence with little interruption to their offline world. People can create specific user accounts for a variety of reasons, including social networking, online gaming and dating; inherently joining or creating new communities. This essay will argue that people can use these forms of empowerment by participating in controlled or non-controlled environments to overturning traditional structures of power and control and escape the oppression of their mundane lives. However, some people experience adverse consequences, such as stolen identities and colliding networks.

 

Before the Internet, knowledge and economic choices were generally limited to the forms of mass media, such as television, radio, and newspapers that were available. A small group of editors or producers usually selected the published information, these people decided on society’s behalf what should or should not, be published. Communication was limited to telephone conversations and letter writing, with the latter being the cheapest and slowest. Socialisation was limited to family, friends, neighbours, co-workers, co-students and special interest groups, such as gardening clubs, sports, stamp collecting. Society’s social circumstances, such as being rich or poor, helped keep people within a controlled environment.

From experience, stay at home parents became the most socially withdrawn people; many giving up their occupations, interests and education to care for their child. Within families, even game playing was limited. As Mitchell's states “research has found game playing to be entwined with existing social networks, bringing family members more into contact with each other” (cited in Mayra, 2008, p. 119). This means that, during this period, game playing was limited to the quantity of games owned, although some could create newer versions from older versions to maintain interest. Other people struggled to socialise or be social within their locality due to physical or geographical reasons, or there was simply no support for their interests.

However, today these people and many more can choose to escape their daily mundane, controlled lives by using applications available with the space known as the Internet. These Internet applications, usually related to the term “new media”. This term is used to describe data that exists on computers, or has been computerized (Manovich, 2002, p. 12). By using new media applications, people can further develop their own personal skills, knowledge and confidence through their connections to the internet; using online communities, social networking, social gaming and other applications. These technologies related to new media were not developed overnight, but have been improved over the years to be user friendly for almost everyone.

This technological change could be associated with the introduction of television and telephones. Slater shows that people were “...fearful of their ill effects on social relationships and identities”, simultaneously, Slater suggests “... the Internet has posed the possibility of entirely new relationships and identities …” (2002, p. 533). Pervasively, new media have overturned the restrictive traditional structures that society faced before it, and offers new avenues for helping people to be content with their daily lives. As Shafi states “People chat, exchange ideas and opinions, they argue and even fall in love in cyberspace” (2005). This liberation begins by logging onto the network and exploring the Internet’s vast space whilst having the choice to remain incognito.

Online, people can do almost anything. As past research has indicated, “the internet has pervasively become common as an interactive research, development, communications and recreational stimulant tool in everyday life” (Peucker, 2010). In other words, as an Internet or new media user, a freedom has emerged for people to break away from their once controlled life. Its technologies provide pathways for the users to explore data they have never seen before, regardless of their geographical location “empowering participants to connect with anyone from anywhere in the world on the basis of common interests or pleasures” (Slater, 2002, p. 536). Hence, the Internet user can join online dating sites, social networks, social gaming sites, and known community groups or create their own unique communities to support their particular interests as discussed below.

 

< Prev