Harmonization of Systems: The Third Stage of the Information Society

Abstract

Postmodernism and information economics, mass communications and telecommunications, popular culture and managerial theory. Until now, they have been treated separately. Each offers a conception o f the information society that is distinguished by disciplinary history and unit of analysis, yet each is like the others in addressing issues of social change stimulated by technological development and dependent upon the global information infrastructure, and in identifying dispersal of individuating subjects (whether biological, organizational, narrative, or political) and the loss of facticity as key characteristics o f this era.Analysts of postmodern culture identify this as the information age because information flows have replaced material and spiritual worlds as the basis of referentiality. Economists do so because information as both an intermediate and final product has come to dominate the economy, because the domain of the economy has expanded through the commodification of information, and because information flows have replaced the market as the key coordinating mechanism. Sociologists d o s o because information technologies are key to the restructuring of our social and political environments. For each, quantitative change has led to qualitative change.The information society, however, did not emerge full-blown. Rather, three developmental stages can be identified: A first, beginning in the middle of the 19th century, was characterized by the electr$cation of communication. The second, beginning in the late middle 20th century, was characterized by convergence of technologies and by awareness of the centrality of information to society. The third stage, beginning with the 1990s, is characterized by harmonization of information systems with each other, with systems across national borders, and with other social systems. These changes in the communications environment are significant for the future of the field because they are shifts in the nature of our very subject matter itself, and require some new ways of thinking about it.Sandra Brainan is an assistant professor o f communications at the University of Illinois, LJrbana-Champaign.

Diffusion of Innovations: Communication Evolution and Influences

“…They further argued that the power relation between media and users is changing and this can be viewed as more of manipulation than domination. Braman (1993) and Noam (1993) forwarded a somewhat similar argument by observing that media control has shifted from centralized monopolistic authority to a networked system connecting a wide range of media and social systems. From an economic perspective, Braman called for study of macroand microstructural forces with respect to each other and as part of a network.…”

“…This observation, combined with the input from a wider range of communication scholars in the field (i.e., established scholars ones and new entrants), brought perspectives rooted in either the evaluations of media of the past or examinations of new media environments. Through this discourse, scholars the acknowledged the interconnected new media and social environment and realized the need for more integrative, cross-level, multiprocess approaches towards studying communication (Babrow, 1993;Beniger, 1993;Braman, 1993;Lang & Lang, 1993;Noam, 1993;Rogers & Chaffee, 1993). Lang & Lang (1993) noted the field's connections to humanities, social sciences, and other professional fields and observed this connection was a part of the field's identity.…”

“…By this time, it was evident that the transitory nature of the media and social environment was fundamentally different from the changes occurring in the media and social environment which formed the basis for discourse of 1983. The media was more decentralized and the environment was more clearly conceptualized as an interconnected network of media and social systems compared to the sender-oriented systems of the past (Braman, 1993;Lang & Lang, 1993;Noam, 1993). This observation, combined with the input from a wider range of communication scholars in the field (i.e., established scholars ones and new entrants), brought perspectives rooted in either the evaluations of media of the past or examinations of new media environments.…”

“…The past century has witnessed dramatic change in media convergence and those mediums which were once more or less mass or interpersonal have taken on aspects of the other (Braman, 1993;Chaffee & Rogers, 1983;Lang & Lang, 1993;Noam, 1993). The telephone, once requiring an operator, has now merged with online chat mediums, such as the Facetime platform on iPhone and Skype, and individuals of a blogging community can obtain the latest RSS feeds through their handheld electronic device.…”

Bridging the Digital Divide and the Impact of New Media Technologies on Development in South Africa

“…Media scholars, Nulens (2003) & Jensen (2003 state that in education, ICTs holds the promise of transforming learning in new and powerful ways with the internet playing a very prominent role. Also, Stevenson (1988), Braman (1993) and Tettey (2001) noted that ICT is the infrastructure that brings people together in different places and time zones, with multimedia tools for data, information, communication and knowledge management in order to expand the range of human capabilities. Various studies have shown that there is a global trend towards quality education for all.…”