Theories

• The Leisurely Theory - (Nambiar, Mann & Muthy et al.)

2010:This theory suggets people are now " Making the
Impossible,Possible through the development of New
Media Technology."

• The Contemporary Technological Theory(O'Brien,

Lynch, Courtney) 2010: This theory suggests that the
young people of today are the icons of new media
technolology

• The theory of Consanguinity: (Gooda, Skinner, Francis

2010): Suggests that people communicate more through
technology than they do in person.
 Theories
• Theories can be researched, debated, changed

• Theories can be combined

• This unit is about thinking critically about

theories, learning about them and weighing their
value and reaching your own conclusions.
 Dan Gillmor’s “We The Media”
THEORY:
• New Media allows the audience to move from a
Lecture to a Conversation.

• Turns the audience from them the media and us

the audience to We the Media.

• Empowers people everywhere to learn, make

themselves heard and have more control over
their work.

HOW TRUE IS THIS THEORY?

Putting We Media Theory to the
Test
• Your articles studies last week taught
me about:
– Alternative view points on world events
(Terrorism and the Death of Chemical Ali)

– Clarification of established news stories

(the motivations about why Mother Kim
Gilderdale helped her daughter die)

– Put a face to environmental and cultural

destruction in isolated parts of the world
(Avatar and the plight of contemporary
tribes)

– The political freedoms in other parts of

the world (Sri Lankan Politics and a
comparison with British Soap Stars)
 The Virtual Revolution
• New series on BBC 2 by Aleks
Krotoski
• Explores
– The history of the internet
– Web freedom
– The Corporate vs Open Source
Web
– Social, Economic and Political
issues of New Media
• EXACTLY what we are studying
• BUT Different theories to Dan
Gillmor
 Note Taking Topics
1. The Great Leveler 1. Microsoft Legal Battles
2. Libertarianism 2. Charles Leadbeater
3. The Well 3. Napster
4. Ushahidi
4. Open Source
5. The World Wide Web
5. User generated content
6. HTML
6. Arianna Huffington
7. URL
8. Tim Burners Lee 7. The Huffington Post
9. Bill Gates 8. Jimmy Wales
10. Steve Wozniak
 Research Sheet
Notes about your topic (History, Facts, Statistics, Theories, Ideas,
Events, Dates)
TOPIC:

Summarise one theory you found interesting in the episode:

 Things We Learned From
The Virtual Revolution
• WWW was given away for free
• From the start the Internet has been driven by people
with a sense of personal freedom
• 130 Million Blogs - 90% Dormant – Lots of Conversation
but no one is listening.
• The lack of online regulation means that those who can
shout the loudest get the most space and attention (eg.
Google Wins)
• 1 search engine, 1 social networking website, 1 store
• Not a great leveller at all
• Not actually free at all instead run by an elite.
(Government/Corporate Control)
• Hope in Endless Reinvention (Revolution and Counter
Revolution)
 Task 1
• Write up a new page inside “Virtual
Revolution” part of the wiki about your
topic
– Provide Context to the facts you learned from
watching (Do a little bit of research)
– Add links/images/videos/w2g’s
– MAX 300 words