The Hyperlinked Society: Questioning Connections In The Digital Age

Description

"Links" are among the most basic---and most unexamined---features of online life. Bringing together a prominent array of thinkers from industry and the academy, The Hyperlinked Society addresses a provocative series of questions about the ways in which hyperlinks organize behavior online. How do media producers' considerations of links change the way they approach their work, and how do these considerations in turn affect the ways that audiences consume news and entertainment? What role do economic and political considerations play in information producers' creation of links? How do links shape the size and scope of the public sphere in the digital age? Are hyperlinks "bridging" mechanisms that encourage people to see beyond their personal beliefs to a broader and more diverse world? Or do they simply reinforce existing bonds by encouraging people to ignore social and political perspectives that conflict with their existing interests and beliefs? This pathbreaking collection of essays will be valuable to anyone interested in the now taken for granted connections that structure communication, commerce, and civic discourse in the world of digital media. "This collection provides a broad and deep examination of the social, political, and economic implications of the evolving, web-based media environment. The Hyperlinked Society will be a very useful contribution to the scholarly debate about the role of the internet in modern society, and especially about the interaction between the internet and other media systems in modern society. Contents......Page 6 Joseph Turow / Introduction: On Not Taking the Hyperlink for Granted......Page 8 PART 1. Hyperlinks and the Organization of Attention......Page 28 James G.Webster / Structuring a Marketplace of Attention......Page 30 Alexander Halavais / The Hyperlink as Organizing Principle......Page 46 Philip M. Napoli / Hyperlinking and the Forces of “Massification”......Page 63 Lokman Tsui / The Hyperlink in Newspapers and Blogs......Page 77 Eszter Hargittai / The Role of Expertise in Navigating Links of Influence......Page 92 Seth Finkelstein / Google, Links, and Popularity versus Authority......Page 111 PART 2. Hyperlinks and the Business of Media......Page 130 Martin Nisenholtz / The Hyperlinked News Organization......Page 132 Tom Hespos / How Hyperlinks Ought to Change the Advertising Business......Page 144 Stacey Lynn Schulman / Hyperlinks and Marketing Insight......Page 152 Eric Picard / Hyperlinking and Advertising Strategy......Page 166 Marc A. Smith / From Hyperlinks to Hyperties......Page 172 PART 3. Hyperlinks, the Individual and the Social......Page 186 David Weinberger / The Morality of Links......Page 188 Stefaan G.Verhulst / Linked Geographies: Maps as Mediators of Reality......Page 198 Jeremy W. Crampton / Will Peasants Map? Hyperlinks, Map Mashups, and the Future of Information......Page 213 Lada A. Adamic / The Social Hyperlink......Page 234 Markus Prior / Are Hyperlinks “Weak Ties”?......Page 257 Matthew Hindman / What Is the Online Public Sphere Good For?......Page 275 Selected Bibliography......Page 296 About the Authors......Page 312 Index......Page 318