Social Implications of a Computerized Society

1

• Social Implications of a Computerized Society
• Lecture 3
• Instructor Oliver Schulte
• Simon Fraser University

2
The Impact of the Internet on Thinking and
Relationships

• Information, Knowledge, and Judgment
• Computers and Community

3
Discussion Question

• Has the internet changed the way you think? The
  way you read?

4
Information, Knowledge, and Judgment

• Evaluating Information on the Web
• Expert information or wisdom of the crowd?
• Daunting amount of information on the web, much
  of this information is not correct
• Search engines are replacing librarians, but Web
  sites are ranked by popularity, not by expert
  evaluation
• Wisdom of the crowd - ratings by public of
  website
• If millions participate, the results will be
  useful

5
Information, Knowledge, and Judgment (cont.)

• Evaluating Information on the Web (cont.)
• Wikipedia
• Written by volunteers, some posts are biased and
  not accurate
• Although anyone can write, most people do not
• Those that do typically are educated and experts
  (thousands)

6
Information, Knowledge, and Judgment (cont.)

• Evaluating Information on the Web (cont.)
• Wisdom of the crowd
• Problems of unreliable information are not new
• The Web magnifies the problems
• Rating systems are easy to manipulate
• Vulnerable viewers
• Less educated individuals
• Children
• Responsibilities of site operators
• Should identify user-supplied content
• Make clear which information has been verified

7
Information, Knowledge, and Judgment (cont.)

• Writing, Thinking and Deciding More intellectual
  laziness?
• New tools have displaced skills that were once
  important
• Abdicating responsibility
• People willing to let computers do their thinking
• Reliance on computer systems over human judgment
  may become institutionalized
• Fear of having to defend your own judgment if
  something goes wrong

8
Internet and Cognition Concerns (Carr)

• Reading is cultural practice, not genetic like
  speech.
• Are we evolving towards pancake minds - think
  and widespread?
• Can we still read longer articles with
  concentration?
• British study internet users read 2-3 pages out
  of a scientific article.

9
Discussion Questions

• Whats the most reliable source of information on
  the Web in your opinion?
• How do you evaluate the reliability of
  information you find on the Web? How do your
  evaluation methods compare to the way you
  evaluate information from other sources?

10
Discussion Question

• Has the internet, instant messaging, text
  messaging etc. improved your social relationships
  or made them worse?
• For example, do you have more friends? Better
  friends? What about dating or family?

11
Computers and Community

• Some feared early technologies, such as
  telephones, thinking communication would be
  de-humanized
• Computers and the Internet were blamed for the
  decline in community involvement and memberships
  in clubs and organizations
• The Internet provides communities focused on
  specialized interests or problems
• Some evidence that it helps make contact for
  local people.

12
Computers and Community Making Connections

• The Internet brings people together from all over
  the world
• E-mail and the Internet provide convenient and
  cheap ways for families and friends to stay in
  contact
• New trends include social-networking sites such
  as MySpace and virtual environments such as
  Second Life

13
Computers and Community Criticisms (Rosen)

• IT promotes efficient communication, not
  personal/intimate communication. A tool for
  rushed people.
• Two trends
• Transparency
• Oversharing.
• Easy to make superficial connections hard to
  develop trust.
• Focus on bits and pieces of a person (where from,
  interests), not the whole person.