The Fifth Estate of the Internet Realm William H. Dutton Oxford Internet Institute (OII) University of Oxford www.ox.ac.uk Presentation for The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), organized by the Cambridge Digital Humanities Network, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge University, 24 February 2011. (John Moore, Getty Images)
Presentation on the Fifth Estate of the Internet Realm to CRASSH at the University of Cambridge on 24 February 2011
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The Fifth Estate of the Internet Realm
William H. Dutton
Oxford Internet Institute (OII) University of Oxford
www.ox.ac.uk
Presentation for The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), organized by the Cambridge Digital Humanities Network, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge University, 24 February 2011.
(John Moore, Getty Images)
Technical Novelty – passing fad, not relevant (not ubiquitous), or not ‘real’
Deterministic Technology of Freedom or Control
Reinforcement Politics – Internet Freedom an Illusion?
A Strategic Resource for Reconfiguring Access [enabling a Fifth Estate]
The Political Significance of the Internet and Social Media?
How is the Internet being used to ‘reconfigure access’? Are there discernable patterns?
Does the Internet enable key actors to reconfigure access in ways that enhance their ‘communicative power’?
Key Questions Concerning the Politics of the Digital Age
“[Edmund] Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more prominent far than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or witty saying; it is a literal fact – very momentous to us in these times.”
Thomas Carlyle (1831), Heroes and Hero-Worship, at www.gutenberg.org.etext/1091
Press since the 18th Century - the ‘Fourth Estate’
Internet in the 21st - enabling a Fifth Estate
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Enabling people to network with other individuals and with information, services and technical resources in ways that support social accountability in business and industry, government, politics, and the media.
The Fourth and Fifth Estates
• Studies of the political implications of information and communication technologies, like the Internet
• Distributed Problem-Solving Networks, supported by McKinsey
• Oxford eSocial Science Project (OeSS), supported by the ESRC
• Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS), part of the World Internet Project
• Global Internet Values Survey with INSEAD, ComScore, WEF
Based on a Range of OII Research
• 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009• Cross-sectional Surveys versus Panels• Multi-Stage Probability Sample • England, Scotland & Wales • Respondents: 14 years and older• Face-to-face Interviews, High Response Rates• Sponsorship for 2009 from the British Library,
Higher Education Funding Council for England, Ofcom, and Scottish and Southern Energy
Oxford Internet Institute (OII) University of Oxford
www.ox.ac.uk
Presentation for The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), organized by the Cambridge Digital Humanities Network, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge University, 24 February 2011.