“Information Cocoons” — Some of you guys may have heard of this word several times. It is first created by the Harvard scholar Cass R. Sunstein in his in his 2006 book Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce. From then on, it has been used in many articles and posts, warning the Netizens not to get in the trap of algorism. This term indicates…
Since the existence of image-based journalism and the overall rise in various media formats, we have become oversaturated with images. This in itself does not have to be viewed as a negative development in society. Much good has come from the advent of new media. People learn of different cultures and explore ever-changing forms of entertainment. With globalization working hand in hand…
For this last blog post I was inspired by our assigned presentation, for which I chose to examine the future of traditional media. The subject has way too many layers to solely tackle through a twitter thread format with a limited number of characters. Though I must add, it was a delight to narrate the issue with shorter, more precise expressions given…
The video titled ‘We Are All Cyborgs’ is a short introduction and artistic interpretation of Donna Haraway’s ‘Cyborg Manifesto’ (1985). What is a cyborg you might ask? Well, as most of you are by now well aware a cyborg is defined as “a person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device.” This means that each…

In regards to last week’s discussion about podcasts, I decided to listen to one this morning. As I was waiting for the train I started listening to this Philosophy podcast that was still in my downloads on Spotify. When the train arrived and I sat down in the coupé, I listened to a podcast about Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation and was…
The term ‘algorithm’ to many humanities-oriented people may seem like an abstract concept. One might understand it as a theoretical construct, but not necessarily grasp its practical application or its physical structure. Nonetheless, people are becoming more aware that algorithms are everywhere. It is almost impossible to count the number of times we apply algorithms in our every day lives. If you…
As a child, we’ve all looked up at the night sky, trying to count the stars. But even that tiny piece of sky was so filled with stars that we couldn’t count them. The human mind cannot even begin to comprehend how many stars there are, and how enormous our universe is. This is perhaps not the best metaphor, but to a…
One of the largest contributing factors in the evolution of society within the digital age is the use of digital databases and archives. The Internet, seen as the largest database accessible to the public, encompasses a multitude of online archives and directories. The database can from a literal sense be seen as a collection of data, organized and stored electronically, or as…
On previous few blogs, I have been writing about how traditional media theory has been affected by the digital media, especially the new media. For today’s blog, I will be briefly introducing new factors that are added with new media’s rise. <Interactivity> The first and most obvious change is the interactivity. Before new media, the traditional media only allowed one-way communication. However,…
On the last blog post, I have talked about the Cultivation Theory and how it has changed. Today, I will be talking about the Spiral of Silence model and its modifications due to digital media. <What is Spiral of Silence?> Spiral of Silence model explains that people (the public) stays silent due to the fear of isolation, if their opinion differs from…