the information space
The internet big “lowest-common-denominator battle for attention.” A chaotic maelstrom of consumption, performance, and sensational reaction. Understanding the relationship between information systems and society is the great challenge of our time.
a flood of new digital communication platforms inundating free societies with instantaneous information and nonstop networked dialogue.
with so much noise on social media and so many news outlets disseminating contradictory information, citizens are justifiably confused and cynical. Many find it easier to retreat into echo chambers and share misinformation than discern what’s real amid the chaos of the public sphere.
To function, democracies require more than just voting. Citizens are afforded access to information and an open system of debate. But throughout history, when new forms of communications arrive—from the disingenuous use of sophistic techniques developed in Athens to the social media–enabled spread of propaganda we see today—they often undermine the
... See moreDigital technologies ended the gatekeeper era, emancipated authorship, removed the boundaries on discourse and put reality up for grabs. Truth is contested and crowdsourced.
