New wayz of interactivity

Moving further with social networks

2011-08-05T02:33:00.000-07:00

The likes of social networks has again improved drastically over the past years. From the time I was still a student in university until now as an adult there has been an introduction of a vast number of application to connect with people. To name just a few on these inventions we have BBM which is instant messaging from a blackberry phone to another, there is whatssap, peptext from the Pep stores, flicker, OVI ect. Of course there are still a few networks which have fought and remained with its market for years, facebook and twitter being one of them..

Companies over the years have worked hard to come up with cheaper version of helping its market communicate effectively with each other. As time goes by these social networks have had to fight hard with competitors trying to steal their niche markets. Competition is not from rival social network sites only bt the cellphone network industry has entered.

In the past fews years the 3 most big cellphone network have been in serious competition using a strategy called "free minutes'. This is where users get free minutes another person using the same networks. However there is always a catch. These free minutes are only obtained when a user recharges with a certain minute recharge voucher. Other networks have specific times of when these free minutes apply. Thus meaning users of that network have to be constantly aware of the percentage zone to capitalise on this opportunity.

From these looking at these strategies we see how organisations have tried to minimise the costs of communication for consumer. Some of them are free and some only use a few cents to get goin with the chatting. Who knows maybe soon enough consumers will end up making all calls free, with no strings attached

Facebook Connect - another step to open social networks

2008-05-14T02:09:00.000-07:00

"Facebook just announced "Facebook Connect", which they position as the natural evolution of Facebook as an open platform, which started from their initial API in 2006 and expanded with Facebook Platform in May 2007."(Charlene Li available at http://blogs.forrester.com) This is how they describe Facebook Connect: Facebook Connect is the next iteration of Facebook Platform that allows users to "connect" their Facebook identity, friends and privacy to any site. This will now enable third party websites to implement and offer even more features of Facebook Platform off of Facebook – similar to features available to third party applications today on Facebook. It has four main features namely, Trusted Authentication, Real Identity, Friends Access, Dynamic Privacy. Overall, this means that all of the fun stuff that developers are building into apps on Facebook Platform will now be available for third-party developers to build into applications OFF of Facebook.com. Charlene Li points out that this is the begining of the future she laid out that social networks will be like air-everywhere you need and want them to be.

So in a few weeks, we can expect to see Facebook leaving the confines of its server, allowing users to take their Facebook experience anywhere they want. Instead of damaging itself and eroding the value proposition, Facebook is extending the reach of its social network through the Web.

Cellphones Changing our Behaviour

2008-05-13T04:39:00.000-07:00

Cellphone usage is growing more and more every year. It is reported that in Britain, a billion cellphone text messages are sent each week. There has even been medical records of cellphone addiction. These new technologies have led to new forms of commerce, employment, crime, artistic expression and political organisations. In some countries it is even possible to buy stud guns with MP3 players built in. The manufacturers say they put the cute into the electrecute.

In our days there are even cellphone used under water, a pair of underpants intended to counter the ffects of cellphone radiation, and Nokia is refering to cellphones as our new private parts. In some places, people are using cellphones to transfer money and pay for goods. Its possible to go to a corner shop and buy a loaf of bread with an SMS. Mobile phones are making an ernomous difference in ur lives. Technology is even entering our spiritual lives. In a temple in India, where people would usualy queue for hours to pray to a statue of Ganesh, thy now simply send the god a text message. There is also cellphone software that can help muslim find the direction of Mecca at any time.

Technologies have even changed the way we organise ourselves in society. Flash mobs for spontaneous gatherings are organised via SMS , e-mail or chat rooms which involves crowds of people suddenly materialising in public places to jointly carry out certain random activitie and then quickly disperse. Cellphones have becoma an integral part of our lives. They form part of who we are because some of them contain a huge part of a persons life like a diary full of dates and secrets.

Almost everyone posesses a cellphone which marks its significance in our lives

Marketers increasingly use social networking sites

2008-04-30T03:46:00.000-07:00

Marketers are now shifting from traditional marketing and advertising to the use of social networks. Adoption of social marketing tactics stems from the discovery "30 percent of frequent social networkers trust their peers' opinions when making a major purchase decision, but only 10 percent trust an advertisement," said Emily Riley, JupiterResearch analyst.

Marketers engage in several tactics on sites such as MySpace. Many advertisers easily understand the idea of having a MySpace profile, many will start that way. Riley suggests assets like widgets, skins, and forward-to-friend functionality to spark engagement. Brand involvement with social networking sites may be a new norm, but it's still early days according to Diane Rinaldo, senior director of the retail category at Yahoo.

JupiterResearch defines social networks as Web sites designed for members to create and post content, usually in the form of profile pages, primarily in order to communicate with each other. Monitoring social networking sites and other Web 2.0 venues is seen as important, but having a presence on these sites is possibly more important. I think that many advertisers, even those with fear, understand that if they're not there it's worse than getting negative feedback. It's more important to be there with some risk than not be there at all. Your competitor will surely be there. The shift of brands toward this channel creates the issue of noise in the space. Apart from other things, Social networking sites are not always effective for everybody, some advertisers have a brand that works well with a marketable video. Before an advertiser decides to use social networking, they have to think about how to attract the target audience and think about who they are targeting before attaching a brand message.

Virtual ethnicity

2008-04-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today, spontaneous identification with one's local group, a sort of natural parochialism, is excluded by the saturation of daily life with globalised media. One is continually confronted with people who are not of one's tribe, kin, ethnicity, race, or community in any sense. Yet the desire for ethnic identification, at least in some quarters, is strong. Perahps this is a postmodern ethnicity, mediated by an increasing technologised social world. Inequalities of class, race, and gender contravene absorption into the abstract position of national citizenship. A global communication complicates and disrupts the site of struggle. When the reference point is global, ethnicity becomes an impediment to alliances of solidarity, not an inspiration to resistance.

The term 'virtual ethnicity' suggests one of the great questions confronting us at the close of the 20th century: is there a new form of planetary culture alongside existing ones that appears in the 'space' of electronic communications? Can there be a form of culture that is not bound to the surface of the globe, attaching human beings to its particular configurations with the weight of gravity, inscribing their bodies with its rituals and customs, interpolating their selves with the force of traditionals and political hierarchies? Is virtual ethnicity a transgression of essentialism in all its forms, including that of Western rationalism? Does virtual ethnicity betoken a new age, a 'postmodernity' that spawns multiple, dispersed, heterogeneous subjects as well as global communities?

These are some of the fascinating question that one might ask with the emergence of virtual ethnicity.

the most ABSURD about cellphones

2008-04-18T01:51:00.000-07:00

Now this is the most interesting thing ever. Can you believe that cellphones can also be used to cook an egg. Never in a million years did you ever think this was possible. But it happened and this is how it happened: the journalists created a simple microwave structure as shown in the picture. They called from one cell phone to the other and left both phones on talking mode. They placed a tape recorder next to phones to imitate sounds of speaking so the phones would stay on. After, 15 minutes: The egg became slightly warm.25 minutes: The egg became very warm.40 minutes: The egg became very hot.65 minutes: The egg was cooked. Cooking eggs with mobile phones is possible but very expensive ($4.55 or 123 Rubles). This is what happened a few minutes later :

If this is not interesting about cellphone, then I dont know what is.

Latest features

2008-04-16T06:54:00.000-07:00

Changes is cellphones have been amazing. From video calling to MMS, SMS, Mp3, Mixit, music videos,radio the works. Looking at cellphones back then, one would be amazed at how much upgraded they have been. They have become more than just communication device, they are now entertainment on their own. Years ago cellphones only featured the simple things like one or two games,colourless screens, they were even huge in size, with the size of a brick. Cellphones today are completely new devices. From having games, to calculator, speakerphone, last number recall, voice activated function, reminders, calenders, and caller tunes There are so many other features and the more you have the more you pay for the cellphones. Cellphones with features like Text messaging ,Wireless Internet ,Modem function ,PC synchronization ,PDA ,MP3 player,GPS receiver are most likely to be more expensive close to R3000. The size of the cellphone also adds as one of the latest features. The smaller and slimmer, the better. Normally cellphones which are acceptable when they are big in size are the ones carried by top business people where they send emails and conduct some sort of business in them maybe using the wireless internet. The most recent developments in cellphones are what we call camera phones and Mixit. It almost seems like a crime to own a cellphone without a camera. Everywhere you go you see kids flashing their phones here and there. Taking pictures of friends and family is no longer a long boring process of having to buy a camera, film strips, taking the photos and going to photo studious to print them. With a click of a button, one is able to take photos anywhere, anytime. Photos taken by cellphones can now even be printed. Along with photographs come videos. The latest music can be downloaded into cellphones, eliminating what we call boredom. One can watch a music video while attending a boring lecture. They do this by inserting a earpiece and watching the video.MIXIT!!!! now that is another very interesing feature. In the shower, at church, meetings and social gatherings. This feature has made people become so isolated. One can find a group of people sitting together and find that there is silence, why. Each and everyone of them is busy chatting on mixit. Even young kids have started engaging is such chatrooms found in cellphones. Question is, Is their safety put into risk. Its a good thing though, as technology is advancing, it shows that we are moving forward and going somewhere in life

Social Networks & Identity

2008-04-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

Social networking is the easiest and most fun way of chatting to people. Especially when you want to express your deepest dark secrets, it feels like you are talking to a therapist but you are not worried about anything because they cant see you. What does this do to our identities? Jones (1998) writes about Computer mediated communication. He argues that people use their anonymity to invent alternative versions of ones self and to ingage in untried forms of interaction, theoretically problematising the notion of 'real self'. Users are able to express and expreriment with aspects of their personality that social inhibition would generally encourage them to suppress.

An example of such a relationship is between Karabo and Paul in the soapie of Generations. Karabo was first Jessica and now she's Keketso. Paul on the other hand disguised his true identity and said he was a woman by the name of Gabriella. They have a very strong friendship and they share everything. This confirms an impact of social networking on people's identities. One can be whoever you want to be in the cyber community .

Identity is the sense of self, providing sameness and continuity in personality over time. It is one's self image. The way a person dresses, behaves, talks etc. tells us something about them. They choose to behave in a particular manner because that is how they want to be identified. In the cyber community, people can also create new identities and be whoever they want to be. But, Will this not affect how they act in the natural world because having more than one identity is not easy. In the aforementioned scenario, Karabo knows Paul's true identity but she doesnt want to reveal hers. On the net, she has to be this sweet friend of Paul's yet they are the worst enemies in the real world. The online social networks offers people a variety of things and we become saturated in this new way of socialising. What about the significance of the traditional ways of networking?
Are the online identities real? Attached on this blog is a video bar on your left, its about online identities. Enjoy it!!!

Danger of Cellphones

2008-04-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

As much as cellphone are seen as the greatest achievement in mans history they do have some negative sides to them. Cellphones can cause disruptions during social gatherings. Imagine you are in a movie theatre and all of a sudden a cellphone rings during the most interesting moment in the movie. The disruption can be socially unacceptable. The phones ring during church services, business meetings, family dinners, and even weddings. Intrusiveness has become such a problem that cell phones are being banned from many restaurants and other public establishments. They can also have even more disasterous impact on both an individual and members of a society. This is where the questionability of cellphone effectiveness come in. Cellphones can make a person cause a road accidents due to the fact that they engage in conversation while driving which then disturbs their concentration. Drivers tend to take their eyes off the road, and hands off the steering wheel when talking to cellphones. A number of states have passed laws banning the use of traditional cell phones on their roadways, and vendors have also developed an ever-increasing array of hands-free models but has tthis helped? No it has'nt. Thousands of people are still talking on their cellphones while driving on the roads.The issue came under more intense scrutiny when NHTSA cited a driver's use of a wireless telephone as one cause in a fatal accident that occurred in February 2002 near Largo, Maryland. Despite the fact that a number of government bodies passed laws banning cell phone use on the roads, the practice continues, and controlling drivers' behavior remains a challenge. While so many groups are pushing for more hands-free devices, the effectiveness of these devices is questionable. The use of cellphones also has negative impacts on our lifestyle and health. They could be seen as one of the most dangerous devices in the market today. Specialists say that explosions can occur due to defective batteries or overheating, but using the wrong type of batteries or charger can also precipitate an explosion. As if this is not enough,the cellphone radiation also penetrates deeply into the brain of the user, causing chromosomal damage and possibly cancer. This is a serious issues when matters concerning our health come into play. Normally, people do not see the dangers associated with cellphones because of being blinded by the advanced features cellphones have every year. The cellphone industry does not highlight the negative impact they have or could have on society. There hasnt been any form of campaign or awareness program to warm people against the excessive use of cellphone. It is necessary. We have yet to find out

Changes in Cellphones over the last 30 years

2008-04-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

There is no escaping them, they are everywhere. Constant ringing and beeps in classrooms, church and even in the showers. It seems like everywhere you go, there are there. Statistics say that about 6 million teenagers now own cellphones. They have almost become a necessity and a huge part of our lives. Cellphones have over the years made our live so much easier. Like when there is an urgent need to pass on a message we use cellphones. They dont only do that but they also serve as a mark of status and maturity. One is seen as an important member of society by owning a nice and expensive mobile phone with the latest features such as built in radio, mp3, video caller etc. Before the rise of cellphones was pagers. And before that, it was little electric diaries with which you could beam messages to your friend sitting on the other side of the classroom. If you were really cool, you had one with voice recognition. Cellphones were created in the late 1940's. This cell technology was first used in mobile rigs which was mainly used in taxis, police cars and other emergency vehicles and situations. Truckers also used a form of this technology to communicate with each other. The first mobile phones, referred to as First Generation or 1G, were introduced to the public market in 1983 by the Motorola Company. The first mobile phones during this era were confined to car phones and they were permanently installed in the floorboard of automobiles. During the 1990s, great improvements were made in the mobile phone technology. These phones used Second Generation, or 2G technology. In 1990, the first cell phone call was made using the new digital technology that became characteristic of this era. The Third Generation technology, or 3G, is what many people currently use in their digital cellular phones today. This technology was created very soon after the excitement that the 2G technology created. This new technology is not only capable of transferring voice data.There are currently plans in place to develop a Fourth Generation – 4G – technology. Technology is still evolving and in the next 5 years the world would become a totally different place where there will be no need to communicate physically, no work will be done manually and everything will be electronically operated.

MUSIC'S IMPORTANT INFLUENCES

2008-04-11T07:03:00.000-07:00

Music has been around for thousands of years. Music appeals to everyone. When was the last time you have heard someone say, "I hate all music."? Lately though music has been criticized for corrupting teen's minds. Rap is being blamed for all the crimes and murders in cities all over America and heavy metal is being blamed for giving teens only dark images and thoughts in their minds. Although the media and public criticize rap and rock music and blame the music for influencing teens negatively, they actually give many teenagers an outlet from their life problems. Parents love to blame musicians like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre to bands like KoRn and Limp Bizkit for their child's problems. Music is an excuse for bad parenting. "One should look at the family background of the person committing the crimes" (Foster 3). Most criminals come from dysfunctional families, which would explain why a person would turn to crime in life. Another reason a person would turn to crime is being sexually abused as a young child. This would definitely cause a person to go a little crazy. When someone hears some lyrics from Eminem, they do not go out and do what he says. Lyrics from Eminem and other similar lyrics are for entertainment only. If people did whatever they heard, then everybody would be evil and corrupted I hear far worse words and phrases during school than on a rap album, and the words do not effect me or anybody else otherwise everybody in school would run around shooting people and doing drugs. Rappers are blamed constantly for crimes. In 1988, rapper Ice-T was under the gun from the media because of a song he wrote called, "Cop Killa". Once that song was released several police murderers said they did it because of Ice-T's song. "But is it Ice-T's fault fore these crimes, or is it the fault of the person committing these crimes against the police" (Foster 2). Foster asks an interesting question. The answer is no, the musician should not be the one blamed for these crimes. Police officers were being shot all the time before that song. All cops know that their jobs are dangerous, yet they still take the job. Also a group called Three Six Mafia had a similar experience to Ice-T's. They were banned from almost every state in the north and the south because of a song they wrote called "Tear the Club Up".

CLASSICAL MUSIC

2008-04-11T06:55:00.000-07:00

Classical music is a term that refers to music opposed to the popular music of contemporary culture, such as jazz, pop, rock and other sub-genres. Some partisans of classical music may claim that classical music constitutes art and popular music only light entertainment. But the main distinction between classical music and pop music is that classical music has more complex structures.
For example, classical music uses development and involves more changing of keys/modulation, less repetition and a wider use of musical phrases that are not simply four or eight bars long, the default length. Classical music is thought to be rooted in the traditions of European art, both sacred and secular concert music and encompasses the period from 1000 to the present.
According to experts, the central themes, ideas and styles of classical music developed between 1550 and 1820. Classical music typically focuses on classical traditions, formal styles and is technically very complex. The term "classical music" wasn't used until the early 19th century when there was an attempt to canonize the period from the composer Bach to the composer Beethoven.
The first reference to classical music as an official genre came in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1836. The western tradition of music originated in the chant tradition of the early Christian era and monophonic music. This type of music was prevalent during the Middle Ages and included sequences and tropes. Later in the period, polyphonic textures that eventually gave way to the textures of classical music emerged making it necessary for elaborate contrapuntal devices and notational practices in order to keep track of musical events.

POP MUSIC

2008-04-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

Pop music, as in 'popular' music, has been with us for ages. We are very aware of it today, through the promotion of recordings, but that does not mean it arose any time recently.Before the entertainment industry was created, to amuse consumers and profit industry, entertainment generally consisted of what people could do for themselves and with their neighbours, through activities such as music, singing, and storytelling. These activities played an important role in community life by sharing news and entertainment with people who would not otherwise have been exposed to it. Travelling musicians and actors, were a part of daily life and carried songs and stories with them between towns. Since most people lived and died within five or ten miles of their birthplace, travelling entertainers played a vital role in society.Most of the popular music written over the centuries has been lost, as some of it was never written down and what was committed printed was eventually destroyed or lost.

The musicians we know best were generally employed by the wealthy, who sponsored musical works and musicians. Allmost all of their music was written down and much has survived the ensuing centuries.Cheaply-printed sheets sold to those among the lower classes who could read, since the majority of the population was illiterate. The stories, lessons, religious stories, and government notices distributed in this manner were passed along through the spoken word. The popular songs of the day were performed by those who could read and play instruments, lyrics were learned by word of mouth so that everyone could participate. The vast majority of these works have been lost over the ensuing years. People did not consider popular entertainments as something worth archiving for future generations.Wipe the mud off the floor of the tavern, lay down some clean rushes, the minstrel show is coming to town.And in modern times....The 'modern' pop music era began during the 1920s. The popular music of the day could be heard on the new radios and people could purchase records to play at home on their new gramophones.

Both of these inventions brought something new to people: the ability to enjoy entertainment right in their homes.Music recordings began with the Edison cylinders in the late 19th century, but really grew with the advent of the 78 rpm 'shellacs'. 78s were relatively inexpensive, easy to use, sounded fairly good, and could be played over and over. Radio stations broadcast music of all kinds, along with the news, drama, and comedies, a role duplicated by television in the 1950s.The depression slowed this growth, as there was little money to spend on luxuries, such as new batteries for the radio (rural areas were not electrified), money to purchase new recordings, or even repairs for equipment that broke. People who had been forced to sell their luxury items, could still enjoy these entertainments if they had a neighbour who still owned a radio or gramophone. Another explosion in popularity, at least in the Americas, began as the world industrialized for war at the end of the 1930s and the depression ended.

WHAT ARE THE ORIGIONS OF MUSIC

2008-04-11T06:45:00.001-07:00

Music has a long and complex history. It may predate language (and certainly predates the written word) and is found in every known culture, past and present, varying wildly between times and places.
A culture's music is influenced by all other aspects of that culture, including social and economic organization, climate, and access to technology. The emotions and ideas that music expresses, the situations that music is played and listened to in, and the attitudes toward music players and composers all vary between regions and periods.
"Music history" is the distinct subfield of musicology and history which studies the history of music theory.
The development of music among humans occurred against the backdrop of natural sounds. It was, in all probability, influenced by birdsong and the sounds other animals use to communicate. Some evolutionary biologists have theorized that the ability to recognize sounds not created by humans as "musical" provides a selective advantage.
You can also check this website http://www.musicorigins.com

Prehistoric music, once more commonly called primitive music, is the name given to all music produced in preliterate cultures (prehistory), beginning somewhere in very late geological history.
Traditional Native American and Australian Aboriginal music could be called prehistoric, but the term is commonly used to refer to the music in Europe before the development of writing there. It is more common to call the "prehistoric" music of non-European continents � especially that which still survives � folk, indigenous, or traditional music.
The prehistoric era is considered to have ended with the development of writing, and with it, by definition, prehistoric music. "Ancient music" is the name given to the music that followed.
Ancient music was long thought to be all monophonic, but recent archaeological evidence indicates that this view is no longer true. The "oldest known song" in cuneiform, 4,000 years old from Ur, deciphered by Prof. Anne Draffkorn Kilmer (University of Calif. at Berkeley), was demonstrated to be composed in harmonies of thirds, like ancient English gymel, and also was written using the diatonic scale. Neither harmony nor the diatonic scale can still be considered developments belonging only to "Western" music.
One pipe in the aulos pairs (double flutes) likely served as a drone or "keynote," while the other played melodic passages.

In addition, double pipes, such as used by the ancient Greeks, and ancient bagpipes, as well as a review of ancient drawings on vases and walls, etc., and ancient writings (such as in Aristotle, Problems, Book XIX.12) which described musical techniques of the time, all indicate harmony existed. In ancient Greece, mixed-gender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual reasons. Instruments included the double-reed aulos and the plucked string instrument, the lyre, especially the special kind called a kithara. Music was an important part of education in ancient Greece, and boys were taught music starting at age six. Greek musical literacy created a flowering of development; Greek music theory included the Greek musical modes, eventually became the basis for Western religious music and classical music.
The term Early music era may also refer to contemporary but traditional or folk music, including Asian music, Jewish music, Greek music, Roman music, the music of Mesopotamia, the music of Egypt, and Muslim music.

THE BEAUTY OF MUSIC GENRES!!

2008-04-01T02:19:00.000-07:00

Musical genres often convey certain attitudes and themes. Pop music often speaks of love and relationships. Rock music shouts defiance. Country aches of heartbreak. Rap expresses anger. Blues communicates hard times. A new genre of music is emerging that includes all these styles but with a distinct message and attitude. It's called positive music.
From Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" and Simon and Garfunkels' new "Citizen of the Planet," to indie songs like "Waking Up," "If I Were Brave," and "Right This Moment," songs with positive messages are beginning to gain popularity across the country. Already millions of Americans listen to music that could be classified as "positive" – New Thought, New Age, Inspiring/Motivational, Ambient, Spiritual. And the Positive Music Association (PMA) and Positive Music Radio are leading the way in establishing this new category of music.
Positive music is an eclectic blend of music from mainstream and independent musicians, presenting a message of the goodness and potential within each of us. It celebrates and embraces life. It's music to appreciate, and perhaps improve the quality of, one's life. It is life affirming, constructive and inclusive. It may, as defined by the PMA, be spiritual, but not religious.
Positive music often inspires and empowers people to feel good, to contribute, to bring out the best in themselves. It can now be heard on the Internet on Positive Music Radio, where we believe we have the largest collection of positive music in the world with over 200 independent artists featured with new musicians being added every week. The vision and passion of Positive Music Association, together with Radiopositive/Positive Music Radio founded by Tom Averna, is to establish a new genre of music to acknowledge and promote the work of artists that haven't fit into any particular musical category. These are artists performing in a wide range of musical styles — from pop, rock, jazz and blues, to folk, spiritual, Latin, and even rap — all with the desire to spread a message of peace, unity, and empowerment.

The brilliantly excellent Steve Tromans is circulating (as are others) an email about licensing laws which are already having a brutal effect on local gigs. Venues which could previously offer work to solo musicians or duos now have to pay for a special license, allowing a maximum of 12 per year. Unlicensed acts risk a £20,000 fine and 6 months in prison (for proprietor and musicians). Oh, and this goes for private gigs for charity and school shows too.There's a petition against this on the Number 10 website. 37000 had signed when I went there.Go there, sign, and pass it on if you value local music. It may be too late to undo this bill, but it could help frame better legislation in the future.

What are social networks?

2008-03-07T03:09:00.000-08:00

In its simplest form, a social network is a map of the relationships between individuals, ranging from casual acquaintance to close family bonds. These individuals are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency or similarity, such as values, financial exchange, friends, sexual relations etc. So virtual communities are built around affinity and similarity.

The above is an introduction to social networks but we need to look at the impact of such networks.
There has been a downfall to the significance of social gatherings and personal contact with people simply because one can socialise with anyone in the world through social networks, without having to meet them.

The digital way of doing things have led to new public spheres. People are provided with new ways of discussing social issues.A public sphere can now be defined as spaces of discourse, often mediated, often allow for new, previously excluded, discussants, ideas are judged by their merit, not by the standing of the speaker.
But, it use to be formed around discourse through meetings in salons and coffee shops, as well as in newspapers and other printed forms, the public sphere gave a voice to members of the public who were previously not included in issues of governance. The public sphere was a new, budding form of democracy.
Altough there hasnt been a complete decline in social mettings held in coffee shops and so forth but, more people are turning to the digital/mediated public spheres.

A debate is forming around the question of whether we are still in late modernity and experiencing the culmination of modernity’s inherently globalizing tendency or instead we have entered the networked age characterized by speed, mobility, risk, insecurity, and flexibility. The reconstruction of a public sphere means that the conventional idea of a single, unified public sphere, and the accompanying ideas of a distinctive public opinion, a common public good and a particular public-private distinction are obsolete. Instead we get a complex mosaic of differently sized overlapping and interconnected public spheres.