Search results for ""Author William H. Dutton""

In the eighteenth century, the printing press enabled the rise of an independent press--the Fourth Estate--that helped check the power of governments, business, and industry. In similar ways, the internet is forming a more independent collectivity of networked individuals, which William H. Dutton identifies as the Fifth Estate. Their network power is contributing to a more pluralist role of individuals in democratic political processes and society, which is not only shaping political accountability but nearly every sector of society. Yet a chorus of critics have dismissed the internet's more democratic potentials, demonizing social media and user-generated-content as simply sources of fake news and populism. So, is the internet a tool for democracy or anarchy? In The Fifth Estate, Dutton uses estate theory to illuminate the most important power shift of the digital age. He argues that this network power shift is not only enabling greater democratic accountability in politics and governance but is also empowering networked individuals in their everyday life and work, from checking facts to making civic-minded social interventions. By marshalling world leading research and case studies in a wide range of contexts, Dutton demonstrates that the internet and related digital media are enabling ordinary individuals to search, create, network, collaborate, and leak information in such independent and strategic ways that they enhance their informational and communicative power vis-à-vis other actors and institutions. Dutton also makes the case that internet policy interventions across the globe have increased censorship of users and introduced levels of surveillance that will challenge the vitality of the internet and the Fifth Estate, along with its more pluralist distribution of power. Ambitious and timely, Dutton provides an understanding of the Fifth Estate and its democratic potential so that networked individuals and institutions around the world can maintain and enhance its role in our digital age.

Read more less

This Elgar Research Agenda showcases insights from leading researchers on the charged issues and questions that lie ahead in the multidisciplinary field of digital politics. Covering the political implications of the Internet, social media, datafication and computational analytics, it looks to the future of how research might address the political challenges of the digital age and maps the key emerging trends in this field. Contributors outline and engage with major questions related to the transformation of campaigns, elections and political partisanship through digital media, and identify the methodological pathways and problems that impact the field. Exploring the implications of digitisation for governance, democracy, privacy, surveillance, advocacy, activism, and political talk, this book highlights the emergent ethical issues that will shape the future of this burgeoning focus of research. Featuring crucial insights into an increasingly pertinent subject, this Research Agenda will be key reading for researchers and graduate students of Internet studies, new media studies and political science. Policy makers, political consultants and anyone with a serious interest in research into digital politics will also benefit from this book's forward-looking approach. Contributors include: N. Anstead, J.G. Blumler, A. Chadwick, S. Coleman, A. Drew, E. Dubois, W.H. Dutton, L. Fernandez, H. Ford, M.I. Franklin, P. Gerbaudo, D. Karpf, L. Lievrouw, W.-Y. Lin, F. Martin-Bariteau, D. McDowell-Naylor, G. Moss, B. O'Loughlin, P. Rossini, V. Schneider, L. Sorenson, S. Wright, X. Zhang

Read more less

How is society being reshaped by the continued diffusion and increasing centrality of the Internet in everyday life and work? Society and the Internet provides key readings for students, scholars, and those interested in understanding the interactions of the Internet and society. This multidisciplinary collection of theoretically and empirically anchored chapters addresses the big questions about one of the most significant technological transformations of this century, through a diversity of data, methods, theories, and approaches. Drawing from a range of disciplinary perspectives, Internet research can address core questions about equality, voice, knowledge, participation, and power. By learning from the past and continuing to look toward the future, it can provide a better understanding of what the ever-changing configurations of technology and society mean, both for the everyday life of individuals and for the continued development of society at large. This second edition presents new and original contributions examining the escalating concerns around social media, disinformation, big data, and privacy. Following a foreword by Manual Castells, the editors introduce some of the key issues in Internet Studies. The chapters then offer the latest research in five focused sections: The Internet in Everyday Life; Digital Rights and Human Rights; Networked Ideas, Politics, and Governance; Networked Businesses, Industries, and Economics; and Technological and Regulatory Histories and Futures. This book will be a valuable resource not only for students and researchers, but for anyone seeking a critical examination of the economic, social, and political factors shaping the Internet and its impact on society.

Read more less