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October 02, 2005
In The Rise of the Network Society and related texts Manual Castells argued that a new global economy has formed. It has been kick-started by major breakthroughs in five areas of technological progress: micro-electronics, computing (both hardware and software), telecommunications, opti-electronics (advances in fibre optics) and biogenetic engineering. These technologies all involve the generation, storage and manipulation of information.
This means they can all be used together, or in combination. Each technological development supports the other, and combinations of these advances create new onward movement. Castells says that this raises knowledge and information to a new and central position in the historical development of capitalism. Hence the information economy or information society.
The global economy is now characterized by the almost instantaneous flow and exchange of information, capital and cultural communication. These flows order and condition both consumption and production. Thus a network logic now lies at the heart of capitalist production.
The networks themselves reflect and create distinctive cultures. Both they and the traffic they carry are largely outside national regulation. Our dependence on the new modes of informational flow gives enormous power to those in a position to control them to control us. The main political arena is now the media, and the media are not politically answerable.
The network society makes sense doesn't it.
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The mass media is a left over the information scarce economy. Already they are seeing their power eroded. All the major papers are seeing their circulations drop. Sites like slashdot, metafilter, fark etc have daily hit rates that put the paper rags to shame.
The interesting aspect of these sites is that they dont editorialise or speak at their audience, they provide a means to engage in dialog. I could increase the Australians, or SMHs or Daily Telegraphs online hits by several orders of magnitude with one simple change. I would add the ability for readers to add comments to each story.
The mass media works on the premise of information scarcity. They are wrong. Same with record companies, there will be some darwinisation. The internet is fickle, and highly impressionable to fashion. Google bought orkut for uteloads of dollars but now myspaces is the hotness and orkut is only used by Brazilians.
Throwing money isnt going to save them either.