Mediated Communication: The Internet, Culture, and Society

Catalog description

We communicate using technology every day. In fact, our digital communication technologies are so pervasive that they seem almost invisible as most of us increasingly rely on some form of media in order to communicate with one another. Technologies such as Facebook, Twitter, SMS, e-mail, and any number of other programs have blurred the lines between interpersonal and mass communication, causing us to rethink how we understand human interaction in this new mediated world. Mediation has challenged some of the most basic assumptions of how we form relationships, both with each other and with ourselves, and how technology can be used to enhance or inhibit these relationships. This course examines the effects that digital mediated communication technologies have on our everyday lives, personal identities as well as our interpersonal, intrapersonal, and organizational relationships.