Chapter Two Questioning the Media

First Encounter with the Internet

1) What was your first encounter with the Internet like? How did it compare with your first encounters with other mass media?
My first encounter with the Internet was surprisingly for schoolwork. I was in fifth grade and was working on a project about the Viking Leif Ericson. I remember when I worked on projects previously I used encyclopedias and books for most of my research but they soon took a backseat in my research methods. The Internet had everything that I needed at my fingertips. I could find a plethora of information and pictures that I could use and all I had to do was use a search engine and print them out. I’d say that my first encounter with the internet differs from my other first encounters with mass media in the aspect that I used the Internet for research rather than entertainment.

The Information Age

5) As we move form a print-orientated Industrial Age to a digitally based Information Age, how do you think individuals, communities, and nations will be affected?

As we move from a print-orientated Industrial Age to a digitally based Information Age I think that individuals, communities, and nations will be affected both positively and negatively. In the past anyone could read a book or a paper and get the information they required, however in the Information Age less fortunate people who cannot afford means of Internet access will not have the same advantage that those who can afford Internet access will have. There will be a large gap between the classes because the Internet will almost give an “unfair advantage” to those who can afford it. Communities will be able to be linked all over the world and families won’t have to write letters or talk on the phone to stay in touch.