Chapter 7- Textbook Flashcards
What is mass communication?
The transmission of messages by a person or group through a device to a large audience
What is mass media
devises designed to communicate messages to a mass audience
When and how did our human ancestors first begin to community their ideas and emotions?
using paintings and engravings on cave walls during theUpper Palaeolithic era
What are cuneiform?
an early form of wedge-shaped writing developed by the ancient Sumerians
What are hieroglyphics?
an early form of visual communication developed by the Egyptians
What is papyrus?
an early form of writing paper developed by the Egyptians that enabled written messages to be transported across great distances
What is the phonetic alphabet?
a system of writing developed by early Greeks that uses letters to represent spoken sounds, enabling the expression of complex ideas
What is the earliest printing process? Describe. When and where was it developed?
Block Printing
A process in which wooden blocks are engraved with images and text, inked, and then pressed onto paper
-China during the tang dynasty
What was the revolutionary form of mass media invented by Johannes Gutenberg that had a tremendous impact on human social development?
Printing press-movable type
What is movable type?
Gutenberg’s invention that allowed individual letters of images to be moved without influencing the surrounding text
How did the printing press transform human society?
- first major applications of mass production
- interchangeable parts constituted one of the earliest instances of a technique that would become instrumental to the industrial Revolution
- by making copied of documents available, people outside of the upper class were motivated to learn to read
- massive increase in literacy levels across Europe
What emerged after the printing press?
Newspapers
What emerged after the newspaper?
telegraph
Why were telegraphs efficient?
they were more timely then sending printed documents across the country by train
What ushered in sound?
Thomas Edison’s invention of the phonograph
What was the key development of the radio over earlier technology?
it did not require wires and allowed a single signal to be transmitted to anyone with a receiver
What has television become?
an integral part of the world’s social, political, and economic landscape. Free technological developments have had such a profound influence the social fabric of our lives
How did the internet begin?
in 1967 as the American Department of Defence had a contract to design a computer network to act as a vehicle for communication that would be impervious to a nuclear strike
What is web 2.0?
Interactive online tools dedicated to promoting a greater sense of community
What new new technologies enable consumers to do?
pull content that reflects their particular and unique interests whenever they want
What percent of Canadian households had internet access in 2013?
87%
What is the enabling technology for many new online media forms often referred to? What does it represent?
- Web 2.0
- Represents a significant evolution over earlier technologies in that it encourages a more interactivity among users, and results in both a deeper learning and a better potential to build online communities
What is important about satellite television?
- expanding and flourishing industry
- people can watch what they want, when they want
In 2002, the number of people with cellphones surpassed the number with fixed___.
-phone lines
What is the dominant form of voice technology?
cellphones
What has the cellphone become?
part of a user’s personal sphere of objects, much like a wallet and keys
What is digital sociality?
A social landscape in which new communication technologies are promoting human interaction and contact
What are cellphones criticized?
- contributing to poor spelling and grammar
- distraction
- demise of face to face relations
- brain cancer
What is becoming the most common form of mobile communication among young people?
text messaging
How many text messages will be sent worldwide each day?
more than 50 billion (in 2014 was the estimate)
What is twitter?
a real-time information network connecting people to the latest information they find interesting
-potential to galvanize public resistance to political issues
What is a blog?
an online diary in which an individual posts personal reflections on events, specific topics, and/or experiences
The number of blogs on the internet grew from__million in 2007 to___million in 2010.
- 70
- 160
What is RSS (Really Simple Syndication)?
A web feed format that informs subscribers of new information posted on online services
What is the blog’s principle attraction?
ability to present one’s ideas to a global audience and invite a dialogue which may take on the characteristics of an online global community
What is the world’s most popular blog?
the Huffington post
What do critics of online communities say?
that those who read blogs generally only read those that confirm their already held beliefs–the echo chamber effect
What is the mass media’s targeting of a smaller segment of the audience a process known as?
demassification
What is demassification?
a process by which the mass audience is fragmented into small groups or niches to appeal to unique interests. They use these as a basis to develop specific content
What is a wiki?
an online body of information to which anyone can add or modify content
What is the best known wiki today?
the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia