New Media and the Public Sphere Original Research Essay By Jessica Marie Ruxton

Essay Option No.1

My Research: The Internet's addicting yet intriguing appeal to the public sphere
Introduction to my essay
I will be talking about the first essay option and introducing the 'addiction yet intriguing' side to the Internet. As I mentioned in my presentation, I will be revolving my essay around 5 main literatures that I think relate to my essay title but I will also refer to online sources that I think correspond to the title. I think this is an interesting topic to talk about as I have seen the appeal of the Internet but also the harmful aspect of the Internet so I think it is worth the research in this context.

The 'New Media'

A quote from 'New Media: A Critical Introduction' from the first chapter 'New Media and New Technologies' book explains - new media is very seductive in its historical simplicity; there was the 'old media' and now there is the 'new'. We use it to mark a break with history New media refers to the use of computers (computer games, e-mail, online communities, web advertising, chat rooms, virtual reality environments and more), phones, TV box sets and the creation of media content. Most digital media forms are user-driven, meaning that each and every individual in the world can announce a piece of information where people can agree/disagree and add opinions and more. The avant-garde became materialised in a computer. Digital cinema technology is a case in point. The avant-garde strategy of collage re-emerged as the ''cut and paste'' command, the most basic operation one can perform on digital data. (Lev Manovich, 2001) It is true that the cut and paste command has made everything easy for all users. In this last decade of the 20th century, we are in an unusual position to appreciate remediation, because of the rapid development of new digital media and the nearly as rapid response to traditional media. - (Jay

David Bolter & Richard Grusin, 1999) With digital media showing an even bigger advantage in the 21st century we come to terms on how fast media is growing.

Lets take a brief look at the impact of MOBILE PHONES

We are obsessed with mobile usage in this day in age; the amount of radiation we are exposed to could damage our health enormously. Not only is our health at stake but also the constant need to have our phones nearby should raise immense awareness. Why are we so obsessed? We look at our phones every minute that I don't honestly think we could last a day without having it close to us. The mobile phone is the most common distraction while watching anything. 60% of phone users distracted themselves with their phones while watching TV, and 46% did while watching an

online video. - (Online article. Dan Frommer, 2011) The upside - we can browse the Internet on our phones, we can send emails, we can listen to music on an MP3 Player and take photos with our digital cameras.

Another brief look at the impact of THE TELEVISION

TV can have positive and negative aspects. It's a tool of information and new knowledge e.g. incorporating facts about other countries heritage and traditions. We examine jungles,

Rain forests, oceans, animals and we get a better understanding of how politics work. We see different culture events around the world and have the pleasure of being entertained, educated and influenced. But with all the positives on one side, the negatives are on the other. Like drugs or alcohol, TV can bring about addiction. The viewers have craving symptoms and neglect their social and family life (Encyclopaedic website. Stefan Anitei, 2007). Images on TV can make us angry, sad and even depressed. TV can teach us a lot of useful information but can harm us in horrible ways as well.

New media technologies THE INTERNET

When we were younger we took great pleasure in reading fairytale books, fictional & factual books, funny books and more types of genres. Nowadays, we can read most of these types of books online.

W can now watch most of our favourite TV shows, new movie releases etc online. As I talk about the Internet the following come to mind - email account types (such as gmail, hotmail, windows live, yahoo and more), social networks (Facebook, Skype, MySpace, Bebo, Twitter, chat rooms etc), and other means of Internet usage - talking online, researching online, watching movies, and downloading music/books/TV series/films/games and much more. Clearly, the Internet has reached all corners of the world and is being use both for good and bad purposes (Sandra Weber, 2004) I will explore how the Internet adapts to our lives both in bad and good ways. When referring to the public sphere I will talk about different groups in society it associates with. I will draw my attention on the Internet's impact on children, adolescents, teenagers, and then look at the Internet's power over adults and even specific businesses.

Social and Cultural aspect of THE INTERNET

I want to briefly begin by talking about the social and cultural aspects of the Internet. Social aspect more and more people are talking online. Whether or not you know the person (or people) you are interacting with you are still spending your own time doing so. Cultural aspect the society we live in today depend on information and communication through a source of media. So as viewer watching the news, we do not know whether the cameraman has deliberately portrayed a particular setting in a negative way and therefore we are expected to believe that is how it is. The globalisation process of new information technology helps instil a set of cultural values in means of thinking about social relationships, family, religion and the human condition. Net art refers to how the Internet is now our canvas and we can look up ANYTHING as we wished. A 'net art' example is when different countries advertise their attractions on tourist sites and more. This year it drops the 'computer graphics' category, replacing it with the new 'net art' category, signalling a new stage in the evolution of modern culture and media. - (Lev Manovich, 2001)

The Internets influence on YOUNG PEOPLE

My next question - does the Internet influence young people? Well there are positive and negative outcomes of course in both cases. The positive - If there is a sport, a clothes shop, a shoe store, a department store selling interesting goods, and its getting a lot attention from the net, then young people will be drawn to it. This results in having friendly, innocent fun with your friends or family. The negative these following consequences may influence young people because of images from the Internet - smoking, drinking, spending a lot of money, staying out late, being exposed to violence and being exposed to sexual intentions and much more. The media produce images of beautiful males and females by use of TV advertisements, films, and ads on buses and even on websites. In other words, the media are telling young people that they should look a certain way and should copy celebrities by dressing and acting like them. Another result that new media has generated in recent years is anorexia and obesity. There are millions of adolescents that are trying to fight their way through obesity and are getting bullied in the mean time. Why is this? Because of the constant advertising focused heavily on junk food and sugary drinks.

Criminal behaviour and other circumstances of THE INTERNET AMONGST TEENS

In a review by the 'Institute for Homeland Security Solutions' dated November 2009 it was stated that the Internet presented some unique opportunities for deviant behaviour (Rogers, Smoak, & Liu, 2006, p. 246). The review states that the Internet has brought about pre-existing crimes such as fraud, identity theft and money laundering as Joinson (2005, p. 5) observed. Teenagers have lied, cheated and stolen but the Internet enables them to do it all 10 times faster. Anorexia and probulimia sites have received substantial attention from researchers and they enunciated that these websites 'provided encouragement and tips on purging, staving and vomiting'. I have come across 'ironic' anorexia websites named 'Operation Enduring Thinness', 'I Love You to the Bones' and 'Fat Like Me'. I also took some quotes from this website called 'Anorexia 10 Tips for Anorexics' Move around. Bounce your feet, wiggle your fingers, every little calorie counts. or Keep your wallet at home. If you dont have money, you cant buy food. The media are constantly feeding young people lies and false information and eventually will affect not only adolescents, but children too.

Young people and their COMMUNICATION

Instead of hanging out with friends, teenagers have proved that they would rather stay at home and chat to each other than see each other. Another impact the Internet has had on younger people is the convenience of entertainment. Young people can play games online and watch movies online, with

the aid of video-sharing sites or online archives with access to free full-length movies. Some youngsters are so addicted that they are failing in certain fields like academy and athletics. Interacting with unknown people, sending personal information to unknown people met online, downloading images from file-sharing programs, visiting X-rated sites on purpose, using the Internet to embarrass or harass people, talking online to unknown people about sex - (Kimberly S. Young, Cristiano Nabuco de Abreu. 2011) According to data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project the majority of 89% of teens use e-mail; 75% use IM and over 50% of teens possess more than one e-mail address or screen name. has been said that Internet communication may be best for shy, socially anxious or marginalized youths enabling them to gain confidence over the net. A nationwide poll showed that half of teens ageing from 13-18 have communicated through the Internet with someone they have not met in person, and most confessed about potentially meeting someone face-to-face. Almost 12.5% discovered that the person they were chatting to online was an adult. Teenagers tend to set up fake profiles based on celebrities or use real photos of people and make them out to be something theyre not. As long at this continues, safety will always be an issue for young girls and boys. It

Adults (both male & female) use for THE INTERNET

So is there a difference in effect to both males and females? In 2007, an online question was asked to both male and female persons. The question was has the Internet changed your life? and was posted on a news website. Results showed that many posts from women mentioned that they made best friends over the Internet, met their long-life partner over the Internet, renewed friendships, and shopped and booked flights online. Whereas most males said they found their job online or the Internet helped them gain a career. One woman expressed that The Internet is my job, my high street, my supermarket and my international social playground. The Internet's regime has increased excessively over the last four years 46% in 2007 whereas in 2011 57% of households gained access to the Internet. More women are now searching information on cosmetic techniques and makeup tutorials. Men are now looking up information on health problems or house appliances.

Adjustments in the male and female DAILY LIFE due to the Internet
More women and men who are unemployed seek jobs on the Internet instead of going out and asking for a job. Minor daily life activities like travelling can be all done on the Internet now too. One can inquire about flight timings and delays, which makes it easier when it comes to departure time. One of the most interesting aspects of the Internet is the expansion of entertainment. Comedy acts, stage performances, dramas and more have seen a huge decrease in sales since the arrival of online entertainment. Today there is no need to spend money on any of these examples. The Internet has constant advantages on our daily life, but it has caused major societal concerns when it comes to privacy, security, Internet crime and virtual community. Most social networks ask for your personal

details like your phone number and where you live. Telling people whom you dont know this kind of information can be dangerous when showing it off to a wide audience.

INTERNET ADDICTION amongst males & females

It is not a surprise to hear that males and females are becoming more and more addicted to the Internet everyday. Twice as common among males as it is among females Pathological gambling was recognised as a mental disorder...along with other illnesses such as kleptomania and pyromania. - (Kimberly S. Young, Cristiano Nabuco de Abreu, 2011) An interesting quote from 'Internet Addiction' book which shows that males become more addicted to online gambling than women. It was also delivered that those with a poor education are more likely to be pathological gamblers. focusing this information directly at the male society. Individuals who feel overwhelmed or who experience personal problems or who experience lifechanging events such as a recent divorce, relocation, or a death can absorb themselves in a virtual world of fantasy and intrigue. - (Kimberly S. Young, Cristiano Nabuco de Abreu, 2011). The person going through a tough patch can become deeply connected to a virtual world and therefore lose their sense of reality of whats real and what's not? The Internet Addiction book also states that Internet use can become highly reinforcing to overcome low self-esteem, social awkwardness, loneliness and depression. so that leaves me questioning whether or not the Internet is a therapeutic mechanism to overcome depression or simply a dangerous distraction.

Towards the ending of this book I came across 'recovery and treatment for Internet addiction' and read that therapeutic counselling is delivered in a private, highly confidential setting. and CBT's (Cognitive Behavioural Therapies) main objective is to produce changes in the patients thoughts and meaning systems, with the purpose of bringing about a longer-lasting emotional and behavioural transformation. So the apparatus for solving addiction is taken quite seriously. I didn't realise how common Internet addiction was until I read this book it really astonished me.

MODERN BUSINESSES and their struggle to make ends meet

Radio & TV Broadcasting: Radio broadcasting has seen its ups and downs when facing the Internet. For users, we can simply listen or download podcasts and catch up on news stories or conversations that we missed beforehand. The idea of 'less talk, more music' seems appealing, but eventually the listener will want to hear a decent conversation. I recently observed a chart on the RTE page for audience figures. I looked at the overall % of people that listened to different RT radio channels. It showed that 45% adults, 46% housekeepers and 42% of people who are aged from 20-44 listen to radio on a daily basis. In a class I attended, the debate of whether people listened to the likes of FM104 and more. Half the people in the lecture room said they never listened to these channels and a small amount of people said they didn't listen to radio at all. I think this debate proved my point that people who are 20+ do not bother listen to radio channels as much as they used to. Television broadcasting is not as unfortunate as radio broadcasting, but of course is still under some threat from the new media technologies. The Internet has not yet figured out how to provide constant quality programming and to make it accessible for viewers who are always online. The one difference between TV broadcasting and the Internet is that television brings a large audience together at the same time, whereas when on the Internet, we research what we want when we want. In my opinion, as the Internet grows, television will be a mere pastime. It will be like how my generation sees vinyl records and typewriters. Music Industry: When music made its way across the Internet, a few bands saw this as an opportunity to upload their music so that users could download it for free. In 2003, a New York band named Liars decided to upload their whole new album to their website. At the same time this album was being released through a label. This caused a lot of debate but they simply wanted to boost their popularity. Another band (now disbanded) called Six by Seven released a couple of albums through different labels. They decided as a group to upload a new single when the label told them that they wouldnt support them. Strangely enough, they asked fans to send the album money to the agent, an interesting process but not entirely popular amongst the fans. If the game industry folks had the smirking belief that they controlled the future, the record industry types were sweating bullets; their days were numbered unless they figured out how to turn around current trends (such as dwindling audiences, declining sales, and expanding piracy) (Henry Jenkins, 2006) It is true that the days of record industries are numbered. I will now look at the unfortunate effect the Internet has had on record stores. A sad example I can think of took place in Minneapolis where a CD store called CD Warehouse disclosed a message on the shop door explaining the situation. The message was upsetting for customers and conveyed that downloading music on the Internet has affected real people in real life and closing this store is a real life example.

Food & Retail The Internet has changed the way we communicate and has saved us more time in our shopping experience too. Welcome to convergence culture, where old and new media collide, where glassroots and corporate media intersect, where the power of the media producer and the power old the media consumer interact in unpredictable ways. - (Henry Jenkins, 2006) When people started making online transactions, businesses realised how much of an asset this was to their companies. Popular online businesses I have come across lately have been Tesco, New Look, Forever 21, Arnotts, A|wear, Superquinn, and Dunnes Stores. This circulation of media content across different media systems, competing media economies, and national borders - depends heavily on consumers' active participation - (Henry Jenkins, 2006) Over 25% of all business-tobusiness purchases are placed through some form of Internet connection. BUT - the enjoyment of our retail wisdom is gone, privacy and secure issues and the fact that people feel unsafe over the Internet with their money. Websites ask the user to provide personal details is this safe or not? Another issue is about the images displayed on the website. Some images can make the product look bigger than it is and when it arrives the customer is immediately disappointed. The Internet provides opportunities for communication, customer service, sales support and ecommerce. The technology called the Internet has proved itself, as a useful apparatus for sales and marketing and within itself has become a source of business on its own.

Other personal means of using the NET

I have researched the other means of Internet use other than Facebook, YouTube videos and the

likes. I wasn't surprised when I researched what people are 'addicted to' other than the social networks. Apparently an online gaming website called League of Legends is a massive hit to both males and females and a source of entertainment when boredom hits. A few other means of Internet use included shopping, buying tickets, downloading movies and music, publishing information, blogging, searching for job, pay the bills, looking at houses/apartments and running more than 3 businesses online also.

Conclusion
The Internet is simply a getaway from the reality we live in. Synthetic computer-generated imagery is not an inferior representation of our reality, but a realistic representation of a different

reality. (Lev Manovich, 2001) It is somewhat a mixture between boredom and trying to gain entertainment. Are we that lazy that we avoid going out altogether? Virtual reality has been seen as a new world in direct opposition to the old world of everyday life, or individuals socially and geographically located, a world in which social problems and urban decay are finally overwhelming. - (Martin Lister, 2003) Internet has become an important channel for information delivery, businesses, education and entertainment. While many argue that new technology like e-mail, discussions, and web information will lead to a more informed, engaged public, many still ponder whether the Internet will catapult us into a more participatory society or a manipulated, impersonal society (Nie and Erbring, 2000). The positives and negatives of the Internet are still widely debated amongst our society, but despite the arguments; the Internet will always be a powerful carrier for change, hope and growth. The

References:
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Word Count Excluding References: 3,446

Word Count Including References: 3,780