History of the Internet Free Essay Example

Answer each question below. Answers should be approximately 100 words per question. 1. What are the different forms of social media that exist today? Provide examples of different social media and their primary purposes. There are quite a few social media that exists today. There are social networks that form communities and share personal information, pictures, videos, and instant messages, such as MySpace and Facebook. There are blogs where anybody can communicate their thoughts and feelings about any subject.

Internet news, like MSNBC is now more popular than TV news because we no longer have to wait until 9:00 or 10:00 o’clock at night to see what’s happening in the news 24 hours a day.

YouTube is a great way of sharing informational, entertaining, and even movie trailer videos to a wide audience. The now popular teenage singer, Justin Bieber, was discovered on YouTube by Usher’s manager, when Justin began posting his homemade videos on YouTube. There are also on-line garage sales, like Craigslist, or job hunting sites, such as Monster.

com, Careerbuilder. com and Jobs..

What are the greatest benefits of social media for individuals and society? Just like Justin Bieber, the possibility of opportunities is now more available than before. Social media does not require you to even be far from home to reach a large audience. Marketing products, communicating and sharing information, keeping in touch, and buying merchandise can be easily done in the comfort of your home and has instant results. 3. What are the greatest problems of social media for individuals and society?

I believe the greatest problem with social media for both individuals and society is the lack of restrictions and censorship.

We tend to forget that what we see and hear is not necessarily the truth, and can disparage someone’s reputation, credibility, or judgment from an instant video footage upload from a misunderstood moment or scene. There are also no restrictions on who can participate in posting inappropriate information. 4. How have modern social media sites affected commerce? Include positive and negative examples in your answer.

Social media has positively affected commerce by an almost effortless and less expensive marketing tool. Buying, selling, and exchanging products has become simple and is able to reach many more people than traditional marketing. The negative aspect is that with the simple, economical, easy to use marketing tool, there are also a lot more competition and scams. Products may seem inexpensive, but the products may not be of quality. Unknown businesses promoting their product or services may not be of quality or be trustworthy. 5. How has the Internet changed the way many Americans consume information?

Explain the importance and value of the availability of information on the Internet. Many Americans are now expecting instant results. We no longer have to wait for information. It can be easily viewed on a cell phone or on the computer. The importance and value of the availability of information on the Internet is that it saves time and is seemingly effortless. There are a number of different sites to receive information on the same subject and thus, multiple feedbacks, comments, or opinions can allow you to make informed decisions or judgements. 6.

How might you determine if information found online is trustworthy? Describe credibility issues with information found on the Internet. Online information may be biased and gear towards a certain preference, impress upon personal opinion, or sources lack facts. Information online is only trustworthy and credible based on where the source of the information stems from, how much digging was done to seek truth and facts, and who is conveying the information. 7. In what ways have politicians used the Internet in campaigning and in staying in touch with constituents?

What is the overall effect of the Internet on politics? Internet is allowing politicians to reach their constituents quickly and easily. They are able to use the internet to promote themselves and to receive feedback from more voters to find out what the American people want. Overall, the Internet has had an effect on politics both negatively and positively. On the plus side, politicians have an easy avenue to stroll to find out what the people are looking for and be able to communicate and respond promptly.

On the negative end, politicians need to be even more careful of all their public and sometimes private appearances as one misunderstood event, may be posted on YouTube within minutes. 8. Newspapers, once available only in print, have evolved into 24-hour multimedia operations. In addition to newspapers, briefly describe the evolution of movies, television, Internet, books and magazines, and media companies throughout the last century. All types of media have evolved to 24-hour availability and progress in functions.

Movies and television was once limited to black and white and can only be seen certain times of the day. Now, all shows are in color and can be watched from home, in theaters or anywhere with an internet connection. Books and magazines are virtually paperless. It can be purchased online to download immediately for instant reading, whereas a century ago, books and magazines would take months to be printed. The internet has changed from dial-up to WiFi. It use to take minutes to download items and now it will be a matter of seconds.

What is media convergence? Provide an example of media convergence and explain the media elements that are being combined. Explain how the combination of media elements in your example may be useful and to whom. Media convergence is new and old coming together. Radio and Internet is an example of media convergence. Before, radio stations have only been broadcasted through AM or FM channels. Now, may radio stations have their own websites and can be connected to the radio through the internet.

This combination is helpful to everybody because communication is still available to a large audience of listeners on regular AM/FM radio and is usually still in working order after a natural disaster cuts off electricity. It can be accessed the old-fashion way through radio broadcasts even when the internet is down. 10. How has media convergence changed American culture? Media convergence has changed American culture by allowing for more choices in how we receive and communicate information. A vast majority of Americans participate in some sort of media and its convergence has provided numerous selections of options.

Explain how music and culture influence one another. Provide an example of a song or album that affected culture. Provide examples of songs with cultural references. Music has been around before written communication. Music and culture has influenced each other by conveying messages about politics, love, hate, friendship, etc. An example of a song that has affected culture is the “Star Spangled Banner”, which is America’s national anthem and is sung before the start of a baseball game, America’s cultural past time.

A big part of how pop music affects culture involves how it is distributed. Briefly describe how pop music and music distribution has changed over the last century. A hundred years ago, pop music would be restricted with some sort of censorship of what can and can not be said and can only be heard on the radio with discretion. Now, there are few restrictions and use of vulgar and profanity emerged and can be distributed to anyone who has access to the internet.