Discuss the ways in which high technology and the information explosion have influenced late twentieth and early twenty-first-century culture

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The information explosion had massive effects on the culture of the late twentieth-century. Television and computers—the primary vehicles of the information explosion—have altered almost every aspect of life in our time. Both of these technologies have allowed for instant access to extreme amounts of information. Computer technology, in particular, accelerated the process of information production, storage, and retrieval. Virtually unlimited amounts of information are available in various data banks, united by the World Wide Web and accessed by way of a series of interconnected computer networks known as the Internet. Out of this global digital infrastructure, companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter, have created online social networking sites through which billions of people receive news and other information. These sites also collect data on each unique user, selling that information to advertisers or providing it to government agencies.
In many ways, access to vast amounts of knowledge has created an extremely literate and educated society. People can research almost any topic they wish at a moment's notice. On the negative side, large portals, such as Google or Facebook, serve as gateways and are thus responsible for what the masses see. This phenomenon creates what sociologist Jacques Ellul calls a "psychological collectivism" that robs human beings of freedom and self-esteem. Further, the availability of personal data raises complex cultural issues that have drawn the attention of those concerned with the right to privacy.