Development of Media Technologies
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This lecture discusses the development of media technology and theories about how technology influences media content and audiences. It covers: 1) Walter Benjamin's view that technological reproduction changes how meaning is structured and transmitted through media like photography and film. 2) Marshall McLuhan's theory that the medium itself, not just the content, shapes societies and cultures. He coined the term "global village" to describe electronic media bringing people together. 3) Criticisms of technological determinism emerged, arguing that technology develops through social processes, not autonomously according to its own logic. Studies showed technologies can have flexible designs negotiated by social groups. 4) A critical theory of technology aims to make technology development more democratic
Development of Media Technologies
- 1. INTERNATIONAL BACHELOR COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA Media Technology Lela Mosemghvdlishvili MP&I Lecture 6 Media Technology, lecture given by Lela Mosemghvdlishvili at the Guest lecture "gendered technologies" by Lela Mosemghvdlishvili is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- 2. Previous Lecture • Active audiences and 'active' content • Construction of Meaning – agency of readers in sense making • Encoding/Decoding Model – the importance of the social-cultural context • Discourse and Discursive Resources • 3 modes of reading
- 3. readers or audience Technology media industry medial message or product Simplified Model of Media and the Social World. Croteau, Hoynes & Milan, 2012. Social WorldSocial WorldSocial WorldSocial World
- 5. today’s lecture technological aspects of a medium How do technological characteristics of a medium influence content and readers? development of medium theory theories on the development and effects of technology Critique of Technological Determinism Social Shaping of Technology Critical Theory of Technology
- 6. medium - its characteristics and critique
- 7. a medium producer medium audience message message NOISE NOISE simplified model derived from Shannon and Weaver, 1949 encodes/transmits/stores information
- 8. Media
- 10. Man with a Movie Camera (1929) (by Dziga Vertov)
- 12. Development of Medium Theory Walter Benjamin (1892 – 1940) “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” (1936)
- 13. Walter Benjamin • associated with the Frankfurt School • first systematic account of the mass cultural effects in 20th century • he prefigures McLuhan’s “medium is a message” • argues that particular medium has a specific grammar, which changes the way meaning is structured and transmitted/irrespective of artists’ intention
- 14. from artistic aura to mass mediated reality Art as ritual (as part of mystic/religious experience) Art as exhibition (artworks of worship became also objects of admiration Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction He identifies 3 major (historical) stages
- 15. art as ritual
- 17. art in the age of mechanical reproduction
- 18. in the age of mechanical reproduction • decline of ´aura´ (uniqueness, symbolic value) • ability to circulate beyond physical home • reproducibility • optical unconscious (camera allows us to see for the first time, what is not visible to necked eye) • views on future – mass media as fundamental, revolutionary force – change in mode of artistic production (proliferation of access) could lead to empowerment and emancipation of masses
- 19. Recap (Benjamin) • Commentary on art, photography, early cinema • Fundamental change caused by technological advancement (mechanical reproduction) • decline of aura, but raise of mediated reality • optimistic account of technology (for wider population) • politics of art and mass media
- 20. What is the main difference between Benjamin’s view of mass media and Adorno’s criticism?
- 22. Marshal McLuhan (1911-1980) • first Medium theorist • comments on societal impacts of mass media (in particular TV) • becomes a celebrity in 60ies Annie Hall (1977) by Woody Allen
- 23. Key concepts in McLuhan’s work • media and mode of communication determine the nature of cultures/societies • real impact of media technologies is not its content but their material presence, networks of production and consumption they create • media is an extension of our sensory system (ear/mouth – radio; eye – photography)
- 24. • Acoustic or Preliterate cultures/societies human mouth and ear transmitters/receivers direct (human) communication • Literate cultures – phonetic writing as first medium because it translates oral communication into written artefact – printing gives raise to first mass audience • Visual cultures/societies – Ultimate Medium – Television – transforms mass audience into ‘electric communion’ modes of communication determine cultures
- 25. ‘global village’ • electronic technology is directly linked to our sensory system • television brings (earlier fragmented senses back together, i.e. unites visual & acoustic) • expansion of electronic media (TV) will lead to inclusion of all in ‘global village’ Criticism of McLuhan’s ideas? media determinism
- 26. from McLuhan's optimistic account of media to Borstin’s pseudo-events and Baudrillard’s hyperreality
- 27. Daniel Borstin: Pseudo-events emergence of ‘pseudo-events’ • not spontaneous, but planned (press conference, staged interview) • produced, in order to be reported, or reproduced • Its relations to reality is unclear (for example: human interest stories - evolve around stories, motivations and physiological contexts of the actors involved in a pseudo event; The actual substantive significance of the event is not reported. • essentially tautological phenomenon – staged spontaneity (news programs) (Borstin, 1961)
- 28. How do pseudo-events influence media coverage of politics/ elections/conflicts/wars?
- 29. Gay Debord (1967) • visual media produce vivid (true-like) but essentially false images of life • the Situationists (movement)
- 30. Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) • influenced by Situationists and European Marxism • early criticism (political economy and semiotics): symbolic value of commodity • in 1980s moved to critique of mediation and mass communication
- 31. hyperreality • in technologically advanced postmodern societies human consciousness is unable to distinguish between “reality” from a simulation of reality • media shape/alter/produce and reproduce events & experiences • hyperreality: reality without ‘real’ • references without (real) referent
- 33. critique of Technological Determinism Social studies of Technology critical theory of technology Internet as a medium
- 34. Importance of Technology structuring factor enabling and limiting agency
- 35. Technological Determinism • the common view on technology in politics, economics, popular discourse (partially in academia as well) • roots of technological determinism – post-enlightenment understanding of science, as being objective and value-free, based on rationality and discovered by experts
- 36. Two main assumptions in technological determinism 1. technology develops autonomously, according to its inner logic; its development path is linear and irreversible, from simple to complex configurations (technological innovations are not created but ‘discovered’ by experts) 2. society has to adapt to the ‘imperatives’ of technology (determination by base)
- 37. Positive and negative accounts on impact of technology on society pessimist determinism • technology fundamentally transforms our lives, rips it from its true essence • human beings can no more relate to own social world in its true essence, - technology “reveals” the world to us • solutions: retreat, negation positivist determinism •an uncritical embrasure of technocracy and unchallengeable belief in technical progress as an “exogenous force influencing society” •technological progress will eliminate social problems/ inequalities/diseases etc.
- 38. Criticism of technological determinism • positivist and pessimistic determination • depolitisation of technology • technology is not neutral and value-free • its production and usage takes place in the social context • there is not only one but multiple ‘solutions’ possible • Where is Agency?
- 39. Empirical rejection of technological determinism • Social Studies of technologies (UK, Netherlands, Europe) • Main argument: – Development of technology is socially contingent process; Relevant groups negotiate interpretative flexibility of technologies according to their values. Development of technology may lead to closure, when standard design emerges and/or is locked-in. • classic example bicycle (Bijker, 1987)
- 40. Empirical rejection of technological determinism
- 41. Contribution from SST • development of technology is socially contingent • `black-box' of technology has been opened • socio-economic patterns embedded in both the content of technologies and the processes of innovation shape its development • Critical question: – If development of technology is socially contingent, which social groups and/or what forces drive this process? Where is agency of public/users in this process?
- 42. Critical Theory of Technology
- 43. the Critical Theory of Technology (Andrew Feenberg) • It adds political and normative dimension to social shaping of technology • Recognizes power as well as social contingency of technology • Aims at Democratization of technology (its design, development and usage) • technical code – “a technical code is a realization of an interest or ideology in a technically coherent solution to a problem”; It is a criterion to select between alternative feasible technical designs (e.g. efficiency, safety, health, profit, etc.) (Feenberg, 2002).
- 44. example of creative appropriation (Feenberg) • early 80es a Minitel telephone/computer was distributed to consumers for free; enabled them to view weather/railway information & news bulletins) •however users hacked into the system (which allowed message posting) and started to use it for interpersonal, group communication •creative appropriation of technology by users creates new uses of technology
- 45. “supermedium”?
- 46. internet as a medium • platform and carrier of cross-media texts/content • a new medium in itself – Hypertext – new genres? e.g. web (interactive) documentaries – software and open architecture • as a structure enabling/constraining agency • a site of social struggle • future scenarios: two models of Internet/ community and commercial model (Feenberg)
- 47. recent and forthcoming changes Media in the pocket?
- 49. 3D printing: creating objects
- 50. Social Consequences of New Media? • change in perception of time/space • hypertext undermines our ability to careful deliberation • new media make us lose any sense of unmediated experience • McThinking? • Generation Me? • Wisdom or stupidity of crowds?
- 51. BIG data: surveillance and privacy
- 52. how does design of new media technologies limit/enable agency?
- 53. who ‘owns’/controls/regulates the global network? P2P vs. client-server
- 54. Tug-of-War • between technical capabilities of new media and social forces (economic, political, public interests) • push and pull – commercial interests – user habits/interests – government regulations
- 55. Conclusion • Medium and its technological characteristics effect the message • Development of medium theory and critique of technology • Development of technology is socially contingent • Technology is not value free and neutral • It enables/limits agency
- 57. To prepare the lecture following sources were used: Walter Benjamin (1935) “ The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Taylor and Harris (2008): Critical Theories of Mass Media Andrew Feenberg (2002) Transforming Technology: A critical theory revisited Geert Lovink (2012) Networks Without Cause: A Critique of Social Media
Editor's Notes
- #4: na were pleasant and developed a favourable attitude to equal rights movement
- #10: Spread of literacy50 Standardization of texts Secularization of education Increase in administrative record-keeping Protestant ‘revolution’ Printing
- #11: first
- #20: you can see your deseeded loved ones on home video footage Death and photography (used in Kappas photo
- #24: 960s for his controversial media studies and peculiar perspective on television and its societal impact.
- #30: Question for discussion: How
- #46: The French telephone system initially provided apparatus to each customer free of charge that would allow individuals to tap into data bases to get weather and railway information, news bulletins, and other forms of information. In practice, however, individuals hacked into bulletin boards which were reconfigured to allow message posting, and eventually split-screen on-line communication and chatlines that enabled diverse forms of social interaction and connection. This expropriation shows how individuals could reconfigure technology to serve their own purposes which may have been at odds with the purposes of those who designed the technology, as when the French used Minitel to engage in interpersonal discussion, to facilitate sexual adventures, or to promote political projects, rather than just to consume officially-provided information.
- #56: New media and its relation to other social forces can be analysed along the lines of the metaphor: tug-of-war. This tug-of-war relates to the push and pull between the technical capabilities of new media and other social forces. In Media/Society attention is paid to three such social forces: user habits, commercial interests, government regulations. These of course relate to previous chapters. Firstly, it has become clear that users don’t really change their habits. This means that companies predating the internet era are found in the top 50 of most visited websites in the US. Remember the ideas on big conglomerates, and how only a handful dominates media production. We see them returning here. Secondly, showing how media practices are socially constructed, most companies used a model based on traditional media when they entered the internet for the first time. IN other words, they tried to attract as large an audience as possible, in order to attract advertisers. This did work, but not as well as people thought. It wasn’t until Google employed a different strategy that this changed. Google ranked its pages based on how many time that page was linked to by others. In this way they mainstream information. Additionally, any search in google shows related topics. Advertisers liked this, and we could say this is a new way of narrow casting. Then there is of course the issue of digitization. Because of digitization it is easier to share music and video files. As you might all remember, downloading of music, TV and film is illegal, and is seen as a violation of copyrights. Governments try to regulate these practices, but seem to be rather unsuccessful so far. Last but not least, commercial companies have used the voluntary contributions of amateurs to the web. The most famous example is of course Wikipedia. Related words are crowd-sourcing, using the knowledge of many.