marxist view of digital communication

Question 1

Garside - Marxist explanations (critical)

Answer 1

‘Digital natives’ - Young people now spend less time talking on the phone as they now send messages through a range of devices and apps. Marxists would suggest that digital communications and technologies is just another way in which we are controlled by capitalists.

Question 2

Cornford and Robins - Marxist explanations (critical)

Answer 2

Argue that digital communication is just another way in which we can be ideologically controlled by capitalists who own and control this form of media. They argue that we are presented with social media in a way that makes us think we have freedom, democracy and equality but it is just another way capitalists can make money and control us.

Question 3

The Snowden Report - Marxist explanations (critical)

Answer 3

Surveillance - The US and British governments had accessed personal conversations on digital media in the interests of ‘national security’. Intelligence agencies suggest that these are necessary and legal but these actions have lead to mixed reactions from world leaders.