Do we live in an information age? Do we control technology or does technology control us? With the industrialisation of the printing press audiences were thrust into an information age, and with further advancements such as the telegraph in the 1830s and Morse code (1844) people were able to communicate internationally with each other quicker and more effectively than ever before, which led to information being passed around more frequently.
A good example of us controlling technology is the advent of the web, revolutionising journalism especially. With more and more of the younger generations logging on, companies are battling for audiences, using newer and newer technology (downloads, podcasts etc) to attract readers to their pages.
Marx predicted technological, economic, occupational, spatial and cultural changes in peoples’ lives. For example with the growth of technology people have to adapt to the shift towards industries using more technological machinery for their occupations. Also the revolution in the drop in cost of home computing has caused a massive cultural change.
A major problem with the web is quality control, or possible lack of. With the growth of ‘blogging’, people have a much easier outlet for their writings, musings and thoughts. Although the possibilities of opinion creeping into their ‘journalism’, or lack of or misguided research is far higher, leading to information without content, this can distort the stories news values. As in printed journalism we should never blindly believe what we read, constantly questioning its accuracy, relevance and proactively deconstructing it.
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