Title: 11.4 The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication – Understanding Media and Culture
Headings: 11.4 The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication
11.4 The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication
Learning Objectives
Electronic Media and the Globalization of Culture
China, Globalization, and the Internet
New Media: Internet Convergence and American Society
Internet-Only Sources
“Live” From New York …
Premium Online Video Content
The Role of the Internet in Social Alienation
The “Internet Paradox” and Facebook
Meetup.com: Meeting Up “IRL”
World of Warcraft: Social Interaction Through Avatars
Social Interaction on the Internet Among Low-Income Groups
The Way Forward: Communication, Convergence, and Corporations
Key Takeaways
Exercises
References

Content: Internet-Only Sources
The threshold was crossed in 2008: The Internet overtook print media as a primary source of information for national and international news in the U.S. Television is still far in the lead, but especially among younger demographics, the Internet is quickly catching up as a way to learn about the day’s news. With 40 percent of the public receiving their news from the Internet (see Figure 11.8) (Pew Research Center for the People, 2008), media outlets have been scrambling to set up large presences on the web. Yet one of the most remarkable shifts has been in the establishment of online-only news sources. Figure 11.8
Americans now receive more national and international news from the Internet than they do from newspapers. The conventional argument claims that the anonymity and the echo chamber of the Internet undermine worthwhile news reporting, especially for topics that are expensive to report on. The ability of large news organizations to put reporters in the field is one of their most important contributions and (because of its cost) is often one of the first things to be cut back during times of budget problems. However, as the Internet has become a primary news source for more and more people, new media outlets—publications existing entirely online—have begun to appear. In 2006, two reporters for the Washington Post, John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei, left the newspaper to start a politically centered website called Politico. Rather than simply repeating the day’s news in a blog, they were determined to start a journalistically viable news organization on the web.