So through our readings and our class discussions, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the technological change we’ve been studying will effect the politics of our country and whether or not in will improve our democracy. I wrote a post on my blog that discusses how I believe technological change will probably be a good thing, but that we need a grassroots change in culture in order to really improve things. Yes, changes in fair use law, net neutrality and other measures we’ve discussed in class are necessary, but what do you guys think? Will the emerging media convergence and creation of networks ultimately improve our politics and sense of community? And on a deeper level, will it make people or autonomous and happy?
My personal opinion is that all this is a gradual step in the right direction. I’ll be really interested in hearing what you all think of social network sites next week, and whether they are actually creating more civic community (as Mark Zuckerberg claims).
peace,
-g