COMM 3072 Social Media Technology: From Gutenberg to the Internet
This seminar historicizes information technologies in relation to cultural developments as new media emerged. We begin with the revolution engendered by print media, and move on to the telegraph and telephone, photography and cinema, radio, TV, and communication satellites. One focus is the industries and cultures that developed with each medium, and how technological change interacted with industrial and political change to alter the very nature of communication. We finish with digital media and how internet culture and new media are transforming older paradigms. Research paper required.