My dissertation is now finalised and ready for submission. From the Abstract:
Current trends in the use of the Web are shifting its basis from a technological to a social context. These changes occur as an increasing global population connects to the Net, and realises its potential as a platform for publishing, as well as one for consumption. As people become attuned to the possibilities offered by the Web, powerful social shifts occur, mirroring the decentralist construct of the Web itself.
We find ourselves at a point in time when the balance of power between centralised institutions and the individual are changing. The Web offers a glimpse of how society might look, and more importantly operate, in the future. However, to realise the democratic potential presented to us, we must acknowledge and interpret the warnings of those who predict that we might first have to bear the consequences of our unregulated construction of the information super-highway.
In this dissertation, I examine the development of the Web as a social platform. I analyse the warnings put forward by Paul Virilio at the end of 20th century, and compare how our digital society has the potential to shape our socio-political future.
Researching the dissertation was very interesting and enlightening - especially in the current political climate. I would have loved to have gone much further into this subject, and produce a fuller work…but alas, deadlines are tight!
The following Web resources are referenced in the dissertation:
- Bauwens, M. (2005) The Political Economy of Peer Production. Ctheory.net, 21 January [online]. Available from: http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499
- Bowman, S & Willis, C. (2003) We Media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information [online]. Available from: http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php
- Bruns, A. (2005) Some Explanatory Notes on Produsers and Produsage. Institute for Distributed Creativity [online]. Available from: http://distributedcreativity.typepad.com/idc_texts/2005/11/some_explorator.html
- Court upholds Westminster protest ban. (2006) Liberty, 12 April [online]. Available from: http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/press/2006/court-upholds-protest-ban.shtml* Garret, M.A. (2006) iTunes Update: Apple’s Looking Over Your Shoulder. Since1968.com, 1 November [online]. Available from: http://since1968.com/article/153/itunes-is-watching* Hansen, E. (2005) Google Blogger Out. ZDNet.co.uk, 9 February [online]. Available from: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39187231,00.htm
- Hu, J. (2005) Yahoo buys photo-sharing site Flickr. CNet News.com, 20 March [online]. Available from: http://news.com.com/Yahoo+buys+photo-sharing+site+Flickr/2100-1038_3-5627640.html
- Kahney, L. (2003) The Way the Web It Was. Wired.com, 23 February [online]. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,34006,00.html
- Kanellos, M. (2005) Gates: Restricting IP rights is tantamount to communism. ZDNet.co.uk, 6 January [online]. Available from: http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020478,39183197,00.htm
- Mehta, D. (2004) Asia Earthquake and Tsunamis: Blogs a Platform to Make a Difference. Worldchanging.com, 28 December [online]. Available from: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001821.html
- O’Reilly, T. (2005) What is Web2.0? O’Reilly.net, 30 September [online]. http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html
- Paul, R. (2005) Firefox Passes 10 Percent Market Share. Arstechnica.com, 3 November [online]. Available from: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051103-5525.html
- Rushkoff, D. (2003) Open Source Democracy: How online communication is changing offline politics [online]. Available from: http://www.demos.co.uk/opensourcedemocracy_pdf_media_public.aspx
- Scholz, T. (2005) Review: The Truth about Networks. Leonardo [online]. Available from: http://molodiez.org/db_review.pdf
- Svenson, J. S. & Bannister.F. (2004) Pirates, sharks and moral crusaders: Social control in peer–to–peer networks [online]. Available from: http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_6/svensson/index.html
- Thompson, B. (2005) Blogs Reflect the Power of the Pen. BBC News Online, 2 December [online]. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4492150.stm
- Thornton, S.H. (2002) Let Them Eat IT. Neoscenes.net [online]. Available from: http://neoscenes.net/hyper-text/text/third/eatit.html
- Twist, J. (2005) Global blogger action day called. BBC News Online, 22 February [online]. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4278241.stm
- Virilio, P. (1995) Speed and Information: Cyberspace Alarm! Neoscenes.net. Translated from the French P. Riemens [online] http://neoscenes.net/hyper- text/text/third/alarm.html
- Virtual property market booming. (2005) BBC News Online, 17 February [online]. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4421496.stm
- Waldman, S. (2004) Who Knows? Guardian Unlimited, 26 October [online]. Available from: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1335892,00.html
- Anonymous. (2006) Mini-Microsoft [online]. Available from: http://minimsft.blogspot.com/
- del.icio.us. (2006) [online]. Available from: http://del.icio.us/
- Turner, F. (2006) Flickr Related Tag Browser [online]. Available from:
ame http://www.airtightinteractive.com/projects/related_tag_browser/app
- Wikipedia. (2006) [online]. Available from: http://www.wikipedia.org/
- Gartenberg, M. et al. (2006) Web 2.0: What does it mean for Business? Jupiter Research, 22 February [online]. Available from: http://podcasts.jupiterresearch.com/audio/JRpodcast8-Web20.mp3