Professors Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis discuss the overwhelming amount of communication in today's world. They delve into the impact of social media, the complexities of digital communication, and the evolving nature of communication. They also explore the differences between traditional and social media, their impact on education, and the competition among tech industry giants. Additionally, they discuss the concept of affordance in relation to cloud computing and AI, as well as the unfiltered expression and immediacy enabled by devices and cloud computing.
Communication in the digital age has shifted from personal connections to building an audience and attracting attention, leading to an overload of information.
Social media design prioritizes profit and engagement over responsible communication, resulting in a flood of information, misinformation, and extreme views.
Deep dives
The Impact of Social Media on Communication
The podcast explores the shift from social networks to social media. With the rise of platforms like Facebook and Twitter, communication has shifted from personal connections to building an audience and attracting attention. This transformation has been driven by the media model of broadcasting, incentivizing certain behaviors and leading to the prevalence of disinformation. While the digital age has opened up new possibilities for communication, it has also amplified extreme points of view and created an overload of information.
The Influence of Digital Technology on Meaning-making
The podcast discusses how the digital age has revolutionized the manufacturing of meaning. The affordances of digital technology have allowed individuals to create and share meaning easily, leading to the emergence of affinity groups and the fragmentation of identities. The digital space offers access to vast amounts of information, communication, and noise, with individuals bringing their own mindsets and habits into this ecosystem. This new architecture of communication challenges traditional notions of expertise and requires constant adaptation from educators.
The Impact of Social Media Design on Communication
The podcast highlights the role of social media design in shaping communication patterns. Social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram have created an environment where immediate and unfiltered expression is incentivized. The absence of professional filters and editorial guidelines has led to a flood of information, misinformation, and extreme views. The design decisions made by platform owners prioritize profit and engagement over responsible communication. This lack of restraint in communication poses challenges in establishing credibility, managing information overload, and fostering meaningful discourse.
Balancing Individual Agency and Social Influence
The podcast explores the tension between individual agency and social influence in the digital age. The proliferation of social media and the availability of information has given individuals the power to become social actors and amplify their voices. However, this also creates a culture where followers and likes contribute to establishing authenticity and influence, often overshadowing the importance of facts and expertise. The expanding scope of communication and the constant exposure to affinity groups and shifting opinions present a challenge for educators and institutions trying to guide learners and shape meaningful conversations.
Listen to Episode No.2 of All We Mean, a Special Focus of this podcast. All We Mean is an ongoing discussion and debate about how we mean and why. The guests on today's episode are Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis, professors at the University of Illinois. We talk about TMC — Too Much Communication.
In the 2000s, people complained about the demand to know more stuff. Not today.
It's amazing if you stop to think — if you can find the peace to stop for anything — but such a short time ago, media were about information. Now it's just communicate — post, tweet, share, text, send, upload, access, retweet, like, promote, influence, watch, listen, follow... we do a lot of activity on that surface of our devices. Well, surface is what communication is. That's it. It’s, make available — that’s communicating. And whether there's too much of it or the wrong kind, one thing is for certain: There’s tons of it. Communication is spread everywhere. And what it's all about is not really the question. The pressing question right now is, What is it?