mediajunk

I mentioned yesterday that not all teenage bloggers are geeks. Well, one of the “surprising” findings of the first world internet report is that the average web user does not conform to the stereotype of being anti-social. Far from it: internet users are perhaps more social than those “addicted” to other media. The internet is a many-to-many communications medium, where popular content emerges from the bottom up, and converstaions are truly weblike. Most other media, in contrast, conform to the one-to-many -- or “broadcast” -- model, whereby viewers are passive consumers of infotainment, typically produced by large corporate organisations. Television was traditionally considered an entirely passive medium until communications theorists argued, in the last couple of decades, that viewers do not simply consume television output -- they engage with it, and interpret stories and messages in their own ways. However, engaging with a television programme is a far cry from interacting with other humans. In this sense, TV still is very much an anti-social activity. Couch potatoes are still the epitome of social passivity. Internet users may be known for their tendency to rant, but a rant posted to a site that allows comments becomes a dialogue. And let's not forget that advertisers find the internet much harder to infiltrate. I take heart, then, in the study’s findings that the internet is shaving at least five hours off television viewing among its frequent users -- who, it turns out, also like to read: “The typical internet user is an avid reader of books and spends more time engaged in social activities than the non-user, it says. And, television viewing is down among some internet users by as much as five hours per week compared with Net abstainers.” (CNN) Of course, too much internet, like too much television, isn’t a good thing. I look forward to the day when the web is decoupled from the current PC and monitor arrangement. Until then, it's neck exercises and eye lubricant for me, groan.