Information Mediation in the Internet: Evolution, Trends and Threats
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7203/rd.v0i1.1Abstract
The expansion of the Internet is significantly modifying both the structure and dynamics of the news media, especially in those societies where it is more present. In a short time, the Internet has become a relevant channel for information flow, fact checking, and public discussion, as well as an increasingly important space for public opinion formation. More recently, it has also been used a means for social mobilization and political action. Expectations and hopes around the Internet have been extremely high. In short, the“Internetpromise”hasconsistedonproviding free information access and non-mediated communication, thereby dramatically reducing the power of hegemonic media. However, ongoingtransformations,especiallythoserelated to the so-called “content-centric Internet”, rather suggest that its evolution may point to the opposite direction, towards a more persuasive, increasingly mediated network, in which the power of the news media would increase —rather than decrease—, and would therefore provide them with a more prominent role in public opinion formation process. This paper examines some of the most relevant technological changes that are taking place in the Internet and discusses their possible impact on the autonomy and freedom of final users, on the one hand, and the ideal of free information access and direct and non-mediated communication that was at the core of the Internet original architecture, on the other.
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