Artifacts and Politics: Technologies of the Self

The issues surrounding information and communication technologies can be considered objectively, in which quality is based on scientific measurement. However, since there are an infinite number of rational hypotheses that can be used to explain phenomena, an objective approach to solving information-related problems can not lead to absolute conclusions. An objective view cannot be regarded as a “synonym for ‘fair, unbiased, and good’” (Cox, 2004), because ethical definitions must be considered through the relative perspective of cultural contexts and social consequences.

Information technology can also be considered subjectively, based on individual opinion and experience. However, subjective views will be biased in favor of those who are unaffected by the digital divide. The context of ICT’s and information content cannot be thoroughly assessed until all people are empowered with equal access to ICT’s and information resources and are information literate. While experience-based examples can support the understanding of issues surrounding the creation and use of information, the bias inherent in subjective experience cannot be generally applied as evidence for absolute conclusions regarding information technology quality or the best practices for creating, sharing, and using information resources.

Furthermore, ITC can be evaluated from the perspective of inter-subjective reality (Cox, 2004), which emphasizes the role that culture and society play in determining what is best. In the book Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind, George Lakoff examines inter-subjectivity and validates the social construction of reality. Based on this view, cultural influences on the social construction of information technology and information use directly influence quality and practices. Ethical issues regarding the creation and use of information technology and information resources must be regarded through an inter-subjective lens before ethical principles can be broadly applied. In order to construct an ethical basis for quality practices regarding information communication technology and available information, technical considerations and individual experiences must be considered. However, a comprehensive ethical foundation for the creation, dissemination, and use of information cannot be established without regard for cultural influences and social consequences. An inter-subjective perspective in conjunction with objective and subjective consideration of ethical issues regarding ICT’s, information, and information literacy are needed before an information ethics can be effectively formulated and applied.

When making concrete decisions about information technology and use, a strong foundation in objective technical skills and subjective experience must be reconciled with cultural precedents, social interests, and the reality of unequal access to ICT resources. By evaluating information technology, sharing, and use from multiple perspectives, it is possible to resolve issues regarding productivity, accountability, availability, and quality regarding the creation and use of information in diverse formats.

Principles for evaluating information are reconciled when concrete decisions must be made. The social construction of technology plays a large part in how ethical considerations are applied to the practical use of ICT and information itself. The “production and circulation of meaning” (Lancaster, 2005) regarding information representations, informational texts, and electronic media are affected by the way social reality is constructed and the way ethical principles are applied. Interdependent social and cultural forces impact the way information technology is used, access and availability, and the criteria for assessing the merit and usefulness of all types of information.

The influence of moral systems and values on ICT’s, and the complementary influence of evolving ICT’s on those systems and values has created a need to establish a basis for information ethics and to study the ethical creation, distribution, and use of information presented in a variety of formats. Since valid arguments can be made for and against “oral, legal, or social issues involving cybertechnology” (Tavani, 2004), it is necessary to consider the social ramifications of ICT development in relation to a historical chronology of evolving information communication systems. ICT’s have a reciprocal relationship with social imperatives, in that each has been affected by and affects the other. In addition, progressive globalization and political maneuvers have influenced the construction of ICT’s and the reorganization of social systems.

The developmental relationship between society, information technology, and the Internet can be represented by the following timeline:

1982
The word “Internet” is used for the first time.
1984
Domain Name System (DNS) is established, with network addresses identified by extensions such as .com, .org, and .edu.
Writer William Gibson coins the term “cyberspace.”
1985
Quantum Computer Services, which later changes its name to America Online, debuts. It offers email, electronic bulletin boards, news, and other information.
1988
A virus called the Internet Worm temporarily shuts down about 10% of the world's Internet servers.
1989
The World (world.std.com) debuts as the first provider of dial-up Internet access for consumers.
Tim Berners-Lee of CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics) develops a new technique for distributing information on the Internet. He calls it the World Wide Web. The Web is based on hypertext, which permits the user to connect from one document to another at different sites on the Internet via hyperlinks (specially programmed words, phrases, buttons, or graphics). Unlike other Internet protocols, such as FTP and email, the Web is accessible through a graphical user interface.
1990
The first effort to index the Internet is created by Peter Deutsch at McGill University in Montreal, who devises Archie, an archive of FTP sites.
1991
Gopher, which provides point-and-click navigation, is created at the University of Minnesota and named after the school mascot. Gopher becomes the most popular interface for several years.
Another indexing system, WAIS (Wide Area Information Server), is developed by Brewster Kahle of Thinking Machines Corp.
1993
Mosaic is developed by Marc Andreeson at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). It becomes the dominant navigating system for the World Wide Web, which at this time accounts for merely 1% of all Internet traffic.
1994
The White House launches its website, www.whitehouse.gov.
Initial commerce sites are established and mass marketing campaigns are launched via email, introducing the term “spamming” to the Internet vocabulary.
Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark start Netscape Communications. They introduce the Navigator browser.
1995
CompuServe, America Online, and Prodigy start providing dial-up Internet access.
Sun Microsystems releases the Internet programming language called Java.
1996
Approximately 45 million people are using the Internet, with roughly 30 million of those in North America (United States and Canada), 9 million in Europe, and 6 million in Asia/Pacific (Australia, Japan, etc.). 43.2 million (44%) U.S. households own a personal computer, and 14 million of them are online.
1997
On July 8, 1997, Internet traffic records are broken as the NASA website broadcasts images taken by Pathfinder on Mars. The broadcast generates 46 million hits in one day.
1999
College student Shawn Fanning invents Napster, a computer application that allows users to swap music over the Internet.
The number of Internet users worldwide reaches 150 million by the beginning of 1999. More than 50% are from the United States.
“E-commerce” becomes the new buzzword as Internet shopping rapidly spreads.
2000
To the chagrin of the Internet population, deviant computer programmers begin designing and circulating viruses with greater frequency. “Love Bug” and “Stages” are two examples of self-replicating viruses that send themselves to people listed in a computer user's email address book. The heavy volume of email messages being sent and received forces many infected companies to temporarily shut down their clogged networks.
The Internet bubble bursts, as the fountain of investment capital dries up and the Nasdaq stock index plunges, causing the initial public offering (IPO) window to slam shut and many dotcoms to close their doors.
2001
Napster is dealt a potentially fatal blow when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rules that the company is violating copyright laws and orders it to stop distributing copyrighted music. The file-swapping company says it is developing a subscription-based service.
About 9.8 billion electronic messages are sent daily.
2002
As of January, 58.5% of the U.S. population (164.14 million people) uses the Internet. Worldwide there are 544.2 million users.
The death knell tolls for Napster after a bankruptcy judge ruled in September that German media giant Bertelsmann cannot buy the assets of troubled Napster Inc. The ruling prompts Konrad Hilbers, Napster CEO, to resign and lay off his staff.
2003
It's estimated that Internet users illegally download about 2.6 billion music files each month.
Spam, unsolicited email, becomes a server-clogging menace. It accounts for about half of all emails. In December, President Bush signs the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM Act), which is intended to help individuals and businesses control the amount of unsolicited email they receive.
Apple Computer introduces Apple iTunes Music Store, which allows people to download songs for 99 cents each.
2004
Internet Worm, called MyDoom or Novarg, spreads through Internet servers. About 1 in 12 email messages are infected.
Online spending reaches a record high—$117 billion in 2004, a 26% increase over 2003.

“Sources for this timeline include International Data Corporation, the W3C Consortium, Nielsen/NetRatings, and the Internet Society” (Fact Monster/Information Please Database, 2005).

If “information technology has an ambiguous impact on society” (Capurro, 1996), then it is essential to examine the relationship between technology and society, and the manner in which that relationship affects how information is created, distributed, and used by individuals. The interaction between user and system influences effective navigation, just as the interaction between user and text affects comprehension. Difficulties related to navigating ICT systems affect access and retrieval, while difficulties in determining authenticity and credibility affect a user’s ability to evaluate information quality and usefulness. While information communication technology has increased individual and group access to information and expanded the possibilities of communication, the impact of the Internet and electronic information systems has resulted in a variety of ethical dilemmas. The way in which society accommodates “technological innovation” (Winner, 1986) determines how potential risks, consequences, and opportunities regarding the production, dissemination, exchange, and use of information and information communication technologies are regarded and how information-related issues are resolved.


References

Capurro, R. (1996). Information technology and technologies of the self. Journal of Information Ethics, 5, 19-28. Retrieved January 3, 2006, from http://www.capurro.de/self.htm

Cox, B. (2004). Social construction of reality. Retrieved January 18, 2006, from
http://virtualschool.edu/mon/SocialConstruction/#Sokal

Fact Monster/Information Please Database. (2005). Internet timeline. New York: Pearson Education. Retrieved January 20, 2006, from http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0193167.html

Friedman, T. (1993). Making sense of software. Retrieved January 19, 2006, from
http://virtualschool.edu/mon/SocialConstruction/MakingSenseOfSoftware.html

Jackman, L. & Weiner, S. (2006). National forum on information literacy. New York: Information Institute of Syracuse. Retrieved January 20, 2006, from http://www.infolit.org/

Lakoff, G. (1990). Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lancaster, R. (2005). Cultural studies. Retrieved January 18, 2006, from
http://culturalstudies.gmu.edu/

Tavani, H.T. (2004). Critical thinking skills and logical arguments: Tools for evaluating cyberethics issues. In Ethics and technology: Ethical issues in an age of information and communication technology (pp.65-86). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Winner, L. (1986). Do artifacts have politics? In The whale and the reactor: A search for limits in an age of high technology (pp. 19-39). Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Retrieved December 15, 2005, from
http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~rfrost/courses/Women+Tech/readings/Winner.html


Keys to Information Literacy