Communication is the art of transferring all kinds of information from once source to another source. When analyzing communication through the Internet, the communication is altered and becomes a transfer of information from either multiple senders to one receiver, or one sender to multiple receivers.
The Internet has also brought challenges to the way society communicates. The gap known as “Information Poverty” has grown immensely due to lack of access in some countries. While there are countries that lack in access, there are many that have all kinds of access available and that is when communication becomes a tool of “persuasion and manipulation”[1].
Communication and the Internet are used hand in hand by higher powers to persuade the people who have access to the Internet in their favors. Situations like those are seen in presidential elections, where candidates use the Internet to continuously advertise in their favor. “What differentiates totalitarian from democratic uses of mass communication is the degree of participation and access to the means of mass communication available to the general public, as well as the degree of freedom of speech and press that accompanies mass communication practices”[2]. By using the Internet and communication together we see a sort of Democratic community emerge.
[1] Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: An Essay on Mass Communication. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 7
[2] Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: An Essay on Mass Communication. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 13
This was an insightful post because I agree that all mass communication entails the spreading of information that is privatized, where the sender is considering his or her own interests. Indeed this is a difficult task to tackle when mass communication aims to persuade or dominate. It would seem that the receiver can seldom benefit. I enjoyed reading your post very much.
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