Beschreibung:
The internet has fundamentally transformed society in the past 25 years, yet existing theories of mass or interpersonal communication do not work well in understanding a digital world. Nor has this understanding been helped by disciplinary specialization and a continual focus on the latest innovations. Ralph Schroeder takes a longer-term view, synthesizing perspectives and findings from various social science disciplines in four countries: the United States, Sweden, India and China. His comparison highlights, among other observations, that smartphones are in many respects more important than PC-based internet uses.
1. The internet in theory 1.1 Theories of media, new and old 1.2 Summary of the argument 1.3 The autonomy of the media (sub)system 1.4 The role of the media in politics, culture and the economy: separate and different 1.5 A limited attention space 1.6 Who's afraid of technological determinism? 1.7 Chapter overview