Abstract
The chapter discusses the social dynamics of the economically rational use of hyper-connectivity made possible by the internet. Internet-mediated work in the ‘sharing economy’ is reviewed: should we celebrate the flexibility or fear the precarious and isolated employment with the loss of workers’ rights? We argue that democracy may be enhanced by the internet connectivity but also endangered by the ubiquity of social media leading to opinion ‘echo chambers,’ the spread of ‘fake news’ and the corruption of the public discourse articulated through the concept of ‘post-truth society.’ Wikipedia is presented as a primary example of the cooperative, participatory potential of the internet. Finally, we discuss the emerging disrespect for experts and knowledge in a world of information hyper-accessibility and overload.
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- 1.
Originally broadcast on ABC TV in 1974, quoted by Robinson (2017). A. C. Clarke (1917–2008) was a pre-eminent British science-fiction and non-fiction author who envisaged many future technologies, including communication satellites and the internet.
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Uber and its kin are still banned in a number of European countries, parts of the US and India, and are heavily restricted in Japan and Taiwan.
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Brain Cox was once a band member of Dare and D:Ream, and is now a professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester and presenter of popular science programmes for BBC TV and radio.
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Colic-Peisker, V., Flitney, A. (2018). The Promise and Threat of the Internet Age. In: The Age of Post-Rationality. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6259-9_7
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