Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Time biased or space biased?

Clay and stone tablets, manuscripts, hand-written parchments, carvings on temples, and oral messages, are, according to Harold Innis, time-biased media that last for many generations, but a limited in their reach. Space-biased media, like radio and television convey information to many people over long distances, but have short exposure times. While time-biased media favour stability, community, tradition and religion, space-biased media facilitate rapid change, materialism, secularism and empire. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Innis's_communications_theories).

If that is true, then how do we treat the Internet as a medium? Is Harold Innis's concept of space and time biased media redundant? On one hand, the Internet was able to spread messages faster and reached more people, acting as a catalyst in the 'Arab Spring', destabilizing the existing regimes. There could be another destabilizing set of messages speedily spread by the same Internet; at the same time, the messages / content that were uploaded during the uprising could be available even now. 

So is Internet Space Biased or Time Biased medium? Can the Internet set an agenda? Can it manufacture consent? 

35 comments:

  1. A medium of communication has an important influence on the dissemination of knowledge over space and over time. Media is useful for transporting knowledge over time (i.e. time-biased media) and those that can disseminate knowledge over space (space-biased media). While elements of Innis’ theory remain relevant, the introduction of the Internet raises some questions, as this technology is an example of a time- and space-biased media.

    Time-biased media is described as heavy and durable, while the Internet may not be considered heavy; it is durable and can preserve information and knowledge over time. They have a long lifespan. The innovation of writing, has led to the first attempts to record oral culture; the tradition of writing considered oral culture preserved once it was recorded or written down. Internet is TIME BASED media as you can search for information of ages ago.
    Space-biased media is light and transportable and can be transmitted over distances. They are not restricted to a place. They can travel and expand. As we all know Internet now a days is so portable. I can update my Facebook status or have access to information sitting at one place or travelling. Space bias decreases space between two individual, territory or even country. Helps in interacting and knowing a person you haven’t ever met or known (uncertain reduction theory.)
    The Internet would seem to be a time- and space-biased medium. Inns was convinced that the stability of a society depended on the balance between time- and space-biased media. Harold Innis did not predict the evolution of event or technology as one that would lead to certain events in the future. He saw history as operating in a cyclical pattern. And on the bases of it he made two governing principles of media. Even bloggers who wield power in certain fields (e.g. technology) use the time- and space-biased Internet to create empires of sorts.

    Yes Internet uses “manufacturing consent”. While governments would seem to be the slightly away from internet, but other investor perhaps multinational corporations or the big brands, the Politician could influence the content over the internet. More than “MANUFACTURING CONSENT” the internet uses “AGENDA SETTING THEORY”. It tells you what issues are important. News media have large influence on audience. It filter’s and shape’s the opinion accordingly.

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  3. Some error while posting! Sorry for the inconvenience!!

    I agree with Vaidehi!
    The use of Internet is growing rapidly and we all are aware of it. In today’s busy and techno-savvy world, it is impossible to survive without internet! The way we use social networking sites, the way we use internet today is totally different than what it was 5years ago. Today internet has become a reliable source for millions which transfers information from one place to another and helps people to be connected with the world.

    Media promulgates the information and helps it to reach to a million viewers. It persuades (Persuasion theory) and changes the attitude and thinking pattern of the receivers. Talking about whether Internet is Time-biased and Space biased, in my opinion I feel Internet is ‘time biased’ which will last for many generations ahead! Harold Innis is his theory clearly stated that one that can last long falls into time- biases and where internet is concerned; it is going to last forever unlike space biased which are transitory.

    Moreover, I still agree to the fact that Innis might not guessed that we would be so advanced in terms of technology in years to come that the world would opt for internet, television and radio rather than paintings, manuscripts and newspapers..
    In the years to come, internet will gain grounds as it is hitting hard on the minds of the masses today. The scenario would be totally different then. Space biased media are transient which does not last long. So Internet obviously cannot be space-biased for sure.
    As there are written sources, internet too is somewhat similar to it which can be preserved and can be used for years together unlike television and Radio!

    Talking about doe’s internet manufacture consent; Yes it does! It sets the agenda as correctly stated by Vaidehi. Internet sets an agenda (Agenda setting) for the masses and since we are so engrossed with our busy schedule; we don’t have enough time to sit back and ponder about how much media we consume! The agenda that is set brings us closer to the world and lets us know about what is happening around the globe so that people figure out things and mould their opinions differently!

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  4. Vaidehi and Sandhya i respect your beauty as well as your words,but i think it’s quite clear that the internet is a space biased medium but, that is because a time biased medium cannot be altered or added to Unless done on by a mighty source where as the internet soul survival is its recreative value(Passing trends).
    The vast difference occurring between space biased mediums like tv and the internet is value or amount of control. On one hand we can control what we watch with the TV, its entirely unto us what we explore on the internet, that means 100% control. The flow of information may be high but it is constricted to a certain value in the case of the TV. Hence consent is possible because the reasoning can be explained and the causes persuaded no matter the issue, simply because people believe what they read. And it can create an agenda(agenda setting ) depending on the Overall value/popularity of the cause or the proposal for agenda because the internet has become a figure of liberation.

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  5. I agree to what vaidehi and Sandhya have said that internet is time biased!
    Time biased is something that will constantly in years to come.

    Media is time biased and since internet is itself a media, it is time biased too.
    When we talk about time biased; that is something that will stay with us for long.
    Internet can’t be space biased because though it get connected through signals; it can be with us for a long time. So it is time biased indeed!
    Time biased basically comprises of manuscripts, papyrus letters and things like that but eben on internet mails of ages can be preserved! And Space biased is anything that has a relatively shorter life span and is not useful in today’s busy world and as Dixi said we have 100 percent control over it, it can be kept with us and can be used whenever needed or required! We can access any information at any given point of time.

    Also Internet is growing at a very high speed and we are becoming addicted to it.
    Be it anything, internet is always going to be with us unlike space biased.
    Internet sets the agenda (agenda setting) like other forms of media do! Where there is question of manufacturing consent, yes it does even that!

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  6. Guys, We need to understand that the Internet as a medium is not as binary as traditional media. Much of electronic media have been already established to be space biased mediums. In corollary, Internet which is a electronic medium is also space biased. It cant take your communication to distances a time based medium like a stone tablet cannot. It can reach a large number of people quickly (thus it is a space biased medium). However once you put up something on the internet, it stays there forever. This is where the dualism of internet as a space and time biased medium comes into play. In fact with traditional electronic media content (like TV programs, radio newscasts etc.) being stored on file sharing websites on the Internet, they have partially become time biased. They can be accessed for years to come.

    With that established, does the internet set agendas and manufacture consent? Yes it does. Take an example of any of these viral videos like Gangnam Style or Kolaveri. The magnitude of shares these videos got, compelled everyone to at least deem it important enough to be checked out. Social media did not tell us what to think about these videos, but it sure drive us to think something about it.

    Does it manufacture consent? Yes. Another video documentary that went viral was Kony 2012 which tried to mobilize attention towards catching Joseph Kony, a Uganda based military rebel who was responsible for countless abductions and murders in the country. The video received 93 million views on YouTube within the week and suddenly everyone was an anti-Kony activist. However it was later revealed that the documentary had grossly misrepresented the situation. By mere web based sharing, KONY 2012 manufactured consent that Joseph Kony was the source of all problems in Uganda. Fact of the matter was, by the time this documentary released, Kony and his men had been inactive since 2006. What this displays is that not only can the Internet set an agenda for what we deem important, it can also manufacture consent through a rapid display of the CNN effect.

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  7. I believe that the internet is a Time and Space biased medium. Innis’ theory was subject to the constraint that he could not predict the development of technology that could possibly happen and hence it would be incorrect to decide under which group does internet fall, as the theory was stated without the precaution of any possible change.

    For example, Dmitri Mendeleev made the periodic table of elements back in 1869. At that time, he was the first to arrange the elements in increasing order of their atomic numbers. While making the table, he left some spaces blank because he could predict the existence of some elements not known then. Later it turned out that his predictions were precise. But he could not predict the existence of artificially synthesized elements. But we now have modified HIS periodic table to accumulate all the known elements. Also before the publishing of Einstein’s theory of relativity, we knew only three dimension (Represented on the graph as X, Y and Z axes). Einstein’s theory showed us the existence of time as a dimension which also introduced us to ‘Space-Time Warp’. Now according to scientists exist 11 dimensions in which are infinite universes (Multiverse theory). My example was given to make a point that we modified things with technology for our convenience. We couldn’t stick to century and a half old periodic table or consider just 3 dimensions just because it is partially correct. Hence determining the category of the internet such that it would fall just under group would be impractical.

    The above comments make it obvious how the internet is a Time-based medium. Also, ‘cloud technology’ is the best example i can give for it being space-biased. Has anyone ever used Team Viewer? Talk about video chatting !Though not to a large number of people it definitely is a space biased medium since we are talking of communication over distance irrespective of the number of people addressed.

    I hope my above mentioned points make it obvious that the internet is Space and Time biased and that we need some modification in Innis’ theory considering the increase in technology to make it more practical and referable.

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  8. Media always criticize by the people for time and space bias as people thinks media organization only become a corporate place where time and space both are sale in print and broadcast. Now Internet bias for time and space, Introduction of Internet as a new media could raise questions. Internet does not have long term impact on the audience. It is useful for short term. People that depend solely on time-biased media they revere the wisdom of elders and favour concrete over abstract forms of thought. People depend on space-biased media such as printed newspapers, books and Internet tend to favour abstract thought and control over space. In today’s world people heavily depend on the written proof .
    Neil Postman defines a technopoly as a society in which technology is deified, meaning “the culture seeks its authorisation in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology”. Today internet has become a reliable source for world which transfers information from one place to another and helps people to be connected. Internet is growing at a great speed and one day whole world will be addicted to it. We will see that this will have great effect on Future generation.
    About doe’s internet manufacture consent. Yes Internet set Agenda (Agenda Setting Theory) as Example stated by Akhila of Gangnam Style or Kolaveri, but it also has drawback the rise of such song was great and their fall is also at same speed.

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  9. Sorry guys for interrupting, internet is space biased medium, it has the qualities of time biased media as Akhila mentioned it’s dualism of internet as a space and time biased medium . some of the above comments said that people are addicted to internet , which is a wrong statement .People are reliable on internet , some three years back there was rumours like youth are addicted to orkut. So do you think did their parents took them to rehabilitation ? It’s all about changing trend , some use internet for love and belonging (maslow hierarchy ). Now its Facebook then twitter, there might be upgradation as the expectation of the people increases day by day
    But I've a distinct sense for the past few months that the internet is no longer the frontier, that it's well on the way to becoming as practical and depoliticized as the telephone. While cyberwarfare may be making appearances in the newspaper for months or even years to come, it'll more likely be evidence of governmental meddling than radical uprising.
    The content on internet are always designed attractively so as to make people visit those sites or pages,the site or page which has high number of like or views is been paid by the advertisers , which denotes internet is no more study material indeed more of commercial or business oriented. So there is always agenda (agenda setting )which set by the advertisers according their target audience they have specific message to convey and attract viewers through their persuasive thoughts(persuasion theory ).

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  11. BUT ..I firmly belive that internet is space biased media and i can prove it too - Given its global reach and highly perishable content, clearly the Internet is a medium with a strong space bias. This may seem a strange conclusion for the Internet, which is premised on, and celebrated for, its decentralizing abilities, but the Internet also enables centralized authority to closely monitor and manage subordinate units wherever they are. In addition, since major cities tend to have the best telecommunications systems, this confers a further advantage on both private and business users in metropolitan areas. Although it is extremely effective in controlling space, the Internet is less effective in controlling time. Not only does it lack physical durability, but it also compounds the modern problem of impermanence. Because it provides a way to constantly update information, the Internet is constantly making the information we already have obsolete, and the problem of impermanence that Innis associated with modern media reaches new heights with the Internet. To some minds the effect is liberating, but the Internet has been associated with a widespread breakdown in the capacity to transit appropriate knowledge and skills across time.At the same time, the "instant reaction" response that the Internet makes possible may be especially dangerous if integrated into democratic decision-making, as some have espoused. Though the Net provides more access to information, this doesn't mean that the information will be reliable, relevant, or balanced.
    for example - Facebook is an online service that allows people to create a profile and a network of friends, it is primarily a space bias media. It is a space bias media because a user can add friends from networks all over the world and can in turn access it from anywhere in the world. In comparison to other types of media, Facebook accounts have a relatively short lifespan- which is a characteristic of a space bias media. In addition, unlike time bias media, Facebook does not contain messages of enduring quality, rather, it is simply everyday communication between family and friends. Facebook does have a few characteristics of time bias media, however. For example, unlike other forms of space bias media, Facebook is personal. A user chooses friends and cannot be "friended" unless they accept the request. Wall posts and "pokes" are usually only written or given to good friends. While somewhat of a balance is obtained between the two types of biases, Facebook is a media forum that is ultimately dominated by space bias.

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  12. A medium of communication has an important influence on the dissemination of knowledge over space and over time and it becomes necessary to study its characteristics in order to appraise Its influence in its cultural setting.
    Time biased media seek to transcend time. They are heavy and durable. It facilitates the development of social and industrial hierarchies.
    Space biased media, conversely,seek to obliterate space. They are associated with with secular and territorial societies and facilitate the expansion of empire over space.
    Tensions do exist between time and space biased media. Inni's historical survey of the role of communication and communication technologies in the rise and fall of empires led him to recognise the societal danger in relying too heavily on either time or space biased media.
    We can perhaps assume that the use of a medium of communication over a long period will to some extent determine the character of knowledge to be communicated and suggest that its pervasive influence will eventually create a civilisation in which life and flexibility will become exceedingly difficult to maintain and that the advantages of a new medium will become such as to lead to the emergence of a new civilisation.

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  13. Before I end commenting on internet as space biased or time biased I need to justify , there are many things on internet that are already, easily available. We are living in an over communicated society. Here I reached to a conclusion that Internet is neither space biased nor time biased but surely communication biased. Further, we can’t challenge the reach and space of internet today and once you go viral, reach is beyond your own reach. And even the data stored can be access anytime, everywhere.
    Internet as a media is one of human’s best invention. But with its own advantage the value or content of internet can quickly manipulate the message and the medium itself. Just to get a picture, we can see many growing example of social networking sites and other W3s, creating havoc and panic without any strong reason behind or fact. And the fact is internet as a media has surely the power to influence in mass and shape the society but the misuse of it by biased leaders and politicians to gain their personal interest can prove critical.
    Thus internet as an innovative media has power to lead creative communication. But the use of propaganda model has made it less worth media in terms of trust and value of the content.

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  14. According to me internet is more close to space biased media. Internet can be a carrier of a time biased media but it cannot completely be a time biased media. Internet is a medium, which completely depends on digital technology. Internet is still a very new medium and the potential of it is still being explored. We can find traces were the internet has set agenda. For eg: IAC movement, Arab spring, etc. Internet is very influential medium too, President Obama understood its potential and used it very wisely, and same is in the case of Aston Kutcher who was among the first to understand the power of twitter.
    The internet manufactures consent! Many examples are mentioned in the above comments. Again as I have mentioned in my earlier comments, internet can be a platform for a good public sphere but the drawback still remains that the platform is virtual. Still we see that in situations like election and sports internet becomes a platform for discussion and manufacturing consent amongst millions of users on a particular topic.
    Thus I agree with most of the comments above that internet is more close to a space biased media but also has few characteristics of time biased media embedded in it. It cannot be completely separated from time biased or space biased media but its characteristics could be defined by how it is used.

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  15. I am in agreement to the perspective that Ojasvi has put up. Usefulness of many a definition changes over time. Trying to classify internet into a hardcore time media would not make much sense, unless we are ready to modify the original definition itself. According to Innis, a time based media has two characteristics. One is that the content stays there for ever, which almost everyone here has correctly applied to internet. However, we cannot ignore the second attribute of a time based media, which is that it is limited in its reach. If we are to compromise on this part of the idea of a time based media, then internet is surely a time based medium. Else, it is not.
    Moreover, Innis regarded time biased media as those media, which favour stability, community, tradition and religion. All these are better understood with the examples given in the question of this blog because they are essentially dealt with only a few perspectives – of those who built/ wrote/ created the time based media, of those who they were built/ written/ created and of those you saw/read or consumed them in any other manner. And more often than not, there were little clashes in the opinions regarding the message conveyed in those media. Eg: Although it is not entirely impossible for a Hindu to point fingers at what is written in the Bhagwat Geeta, it is generally widely accepted by all Hindus without raising a question. However, the content on the internet does not enjoy this kind of loyalty. It is flagged, reported, disliked, deleted as inappropriate and so on. Therefore it is not likely to favour stability, community, tradition or religion as lucidly as Innis’ time based media does. Therefore, the idea of the time baised media if not redundant, is certainly obsolete.
    As for the space based media, internet would not only be an apt option but supports it better than any other electronic medium, since is not only the fastest communicator but also allows extensive feedback in moments. All of you have stated enough examples of it being a space biased media, and since this is a debate, I wouldn’t favour repetition.

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  16. I do not completely agree to comments that say internet is time biased, but also I do not completely disagree to the fact either. Internet as a medium is partially time biased and completely space biased. Time biased medium can be preserved but cannot reach a large number of audiences at one time. Internet does both, so like Akhila said ‘duality’ of the internet is factor that helps it survival. Unlike radio which is only space biased.Duality here plays a very important role. Innis mainly argued about maintaining a balance between the two. I say it is completely space biased because it reaches the masses and the exposure time is short. We do not see the stuff on net repeatedly, all the time because we know it is going to be there, thus making it time biased too.
    One of Innis major contribution was the fact that he added dimensions of time and space between various media that helped broaden the horizon. Space biased mediums are transmitted over distances, and what better than the internet can be used to explain that.
    Can internet set an agenda? Well ‘occupy wall street’ would be a classic example (Agenda setting theory). Also can it manufacture consent? This can be explained by the documentary of Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent arguments about mass media . His concept described how mainstream media content is structured so that it forces those with dissenting voices to limit scope of answers to brief thoughts.

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  17. कुठलेही माध्यम हे agenda setting नाही करू शकत. TV Channels agenda setting करू शकतात. Print Media agenda setting नाही करू शकत. तर कुठलेही वर्तमानपत्र agenda setting करू शकतात. त्याचप्रमाणे Internet agenda setting नाही करू शकत. तर ज्या संस्थेची, विश्वस्ताची, व्यक्तीची website आहे ते agenda setting करू शकतात.
    Internet वर तुम्ही वर्तमानपत्र वाचू शकता, TV पाहू शकता, Radio ऐकू शकता. तर Internet हे Internet वापरकर्त्यावर अवलंबून असेल जर user वर्तमानपात्र वाचत असेल तर Space Biased होईल आणि Video बघत असेल किंवा एखादी Sound Clip ऐकत असेल तर Time biased.

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  18. I think discussing this topic with Time & space bind media is not good idea as Internet was not taken in to consideration by Harold Innis. As internet started after the theory was accepted. Today Internet is having properties of both Time biased (long life of content) & Space biased (inform to many people over long distances). So instead of studying the internet now it’s a need of time to create the new genre for study of real time media.
    In some part I agree with Vaidehi that internet is mixture of Time & space bind media. but I strongly feel that the internet is more of space bind media. As it is accessible to many people. Internet tends to favor abstract thought and control over space. This medium has little regard for tradition and when compared with oral societies, their ways of thinking are apt to be more rational, linear and impersonal. But file sharing websites on the Internet can be considered as time biased. They can be accessed for years to come until& unless they are deleted from source person. Here it again comes to prove that Internet is not Time biased because its availability depends upon the mercy of source. Also space bind media is effective for very short period of time best example of this is YouTube videos like Kolavari D. it was major hit for certain period of time on internet now it is there but not much popular. We can say that the time span of material on internet is not related to its popularity. Space bind media helps to dissolve the space disturbance occurred in communication.
    Also Internet helps to set the agenda. Example of this is Burma Muslim killings. If you try to search for news stories on this topic then you will find very less stories about it. As the main source or we can say that the internet gate keeping is strictly in hands of western countries. Another example is the video of American film Innocence of Muslim. This is now ban in India due to problem arising by this video in neighboring country. This shows that Internet have some sort of gate keeping in its origin. But in case of Time bind media there is no gate keeping as anyone who can afford to visit the location of content (caves, stone tablets, wall paintings) can have access to it.
    So in conclusion I will say even though Internet is combination of Time & Space bind media but it is tilted towards space bind media. Internet properties depends upon the space (place) in which it works. Eg – many social networking sites are ban in Pakistan by government policy of state. So saying Internet as space bind is much more acceptable than saying it time bind medium.

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  19. It can undoubtedly, be said, that Internet is one of those 'media' which have both time-biased & space-biased properties. And hence, it would be very difficult to classify it as being 'one' of the two. However, the fact that Internet is not one of those traditional media is also to be considered. It is a multi-dimensional medium of communication. We started from time-biased media like Hand-Written Parchments & Manuscripts & then, moved on to space-biased media like Radio & T.V. Hence, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Internet may be the third form of media which is a result of the amalgamation of the previously existing types. Also, Internet is a very 'flexible' medium & whether it is time or space-biased depends predominantly on the User. For example, there are people who use it as a space-biased medium to video chat with friend & relatives living far away. And there are also people who use it as a time-biased medium to find the already existing information. Now, whether Internet can manufacture consent & set agendas? Well, of course, it can. We all know about the popularity of Facebook & Twitter. It's the age of tweets, now. But we also remember the Orkut scraps. It's an ever-changing medium; always open for change. Also, videos going viral are examples of the same. We may not know or like the video but out of sheer curiosity, we tend to visit the link just to find out what’s it all about. And eventually, contribute to making it viral. If we like it, then we share it. And at times, if we disapprove of the content, we prefer to stay mum. We also know of the IAC Campaign which used the Internet to make the audience aware about the latest happenings. Anna Hazare was a trending topic on Twitter. He had a personal blog which was frequently updated. And there were people following him on the ‘virtual’ world. The ‘Gangnams’ & ‘Kolaveris’ are examples of the same. The ‘Kolaveri’ was actually released on the Internet after it was leaked. It went viral & how! The sales of the movie-tickets of the film ‘3’ went up. Dhanush became an overnight Pan-India star. He even bagged a Hindi feature film following his popularity. Such is the strength & the reach of the Internet.

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  20. I here agree with vaidehi and sandhya that internet is both, a time biased and a space biased medium too. Although it can reach people in no time, it can hold the information till ages. Internet has become such a wide medium in itself. But if we compare internet to tv n radio, how much credibility do they both hold? Internet, however vast it is, is completely reliable and true in the sense of information? Although information like a stone tablet can stay here till ages but what is the assurance that each information is true and can't be edited by anyone else? For eg. In Wikipedia, we can ourselves edit information. Though it needs citations and references, yet the information can be manipulated. But in space based mediums like tv or radio, the information competitively can be trusted to a larger extent. And internet can of course set agenda n manufacture content too. I agree to all the examples that Akhila gave about internet being able to manufacture consent. It also sets agenda in huge way because it can create and mend views with the vast source of information it provides and also because of its ability to reach thousands of people at once.

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  21. Internet is neither fully time biased nor completely space biased.itspartial in both the cases.
    Talking of time biased first,there is a lot of information which stays for a long time say email ids,also if we remember the password,on the other hand many things such as video links or old news do not show up saying " this page has expired".hence for many old sources we cannot rely on the internet.
    Taking about space biased,again it reaches a larger amount of eople,but not as larger as we think.With a lot of technology and modernisation coming up,still there are places in india especially where internet isn't in use.and taking example of some comments here about a event mentioned by akhila,I'm sorry but many people even amongst us don't know about it.( obviously I'm not talking about kolavery di here).
    And coming to manufacturing concent,obviously internet does that as it is a business subject which leads to commercial competition for advertising revenue and profit.
    Taking the examole of kolaveri di only,it was simplyba business video which was aired for entertainment and gain money from thepopularity of video leading to enourmous profits.

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    1. Sorry sir I forgot to mention my name- shalini shreedharan

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  22. I would say this a very flexible media form not bound to space or time. Over the last quarter century the personal computer and the Internet have brought about a change in the landscape of media comparable only to the historical shifts caused by writing, the printing press and electronic mass media. Internet is both space and time biased .Internet is such a medium were anything can get attention within seconds and the issues can become talk of the town. With the introduction of social media through MySpace society has drastically changed. With internet-based communication outside of the stratosphere. It’s not only shaping relationships and elections, it’s shaping the course of entire nations, giving those looking for a voice of their own an outlet of expression and bringing together people with similar ideas and visions.The Arab Spring, as it’s now known, was the start of a cataclysmic shift in the shape of the Middle East. While the political demarcation lines between states remain the same, it is what is inside that has largely changed – for the better or worse we have yet to truly see. Now it’s time for a quick time out to explain something very important, yet often overlooked:Uprisings are not solely due to social media. It would be impossible for Facebook or Twitter to ignite a nation to rise against their leaders. But internet helped bring together like-minded people, the citizens of Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and Libya were already deeply oppressed, although each in different ways and with different types of governments.

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  23. Internet is the time biased media. According to Harold Innis, time biased media means last for many generation.
    As we all know media is time biased because it data remain for long time until any technological problem arise and internet itself is one of the medium of the media that means it is also a time biased.
    Internet can't be a space biased media because the contain in it remain for long time. Earlier the letter were written in papyrus sheet, Tadpatra which can be preserved for long time like that internet mail are also stored for many years.
    In this technological world internet user are growing rapidly and we too use to it.
    Like other form of media, internet too set its agenda.

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  24. Media is going towards time to space biased. Time biased is long life of content & Space biased is informed to many people over long distances. I think time is more durable than & prominent than space biased. One of the good examples is ours, Indian is very used to with new arrivals but we still remembered what our history is.
    On the other hand Space biased media is more efficient, very fast, and easy to accessible. Though it has wide coverage but still it’s not suits time biased shoe.
    Yes, internet is time biased media. It has become a revolution. It’s convenient, easy to access and wide coverage this points specialised it. From big movement to small all are using internet as medium. For E.g. In thane no any thanekar’s eat Panipuri for a year. Who should know is their original Pani or PEE water? This news created buzz overnight. How this come to know a teenager took a video of it & post it on facebook. Then rest story we know. Like this IAC, Arab spring gets huge response from Internet.
    Yes, Internet can set agenda & it also act as manufacture consent. The ongoing example is Nitin Gadkari’s case. RTI Activist and wanna be Politician Arvind Kejriwal gave evidence BJP President is corrupt person. He misused his power’s that benefited his Purti Company. Media played biased role by setting an agenda that he is the only person who corrupt other rest are saint in India. Indian media portrayed & running 24/7 against him, diverted people mind from what congress had done with country.

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  25. Internet today is one the most used medium for information. Today internet transfers information in seconds, connects people on the go .Internet is next to god now makes everything possible but In terms of the time bias and space bias, I think the Internet is very high on the space bias but low on the time bias. The Internet as a communication medium can cover a vast geographical area immediately. Like some people said, the Internet killed distance. However, the Internet is low on the time bias. Information online is changing all the time and at a high speed. When website pages are updated, it is usually very hard to find the previous versions. So it is easy to get the latest information, but can be very difficult to have the information last long. the online information is low on the time bias, it is hard to have long lasting tradition and customs. A piece of online information can have enormous impact in a moment, and completely lose the impact the next moment. Tradition and customs are replaced by fads, which come and go quickly without many deep meanings.


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  26. Internet is one of the most popular and the next generation media. The reach of internet is amazing and it is more than any other media. The other major factor is that the quickness and impromptunes of the media. The reach and popularity of internet is excellent and this makes Internet space biased media. But is it just space biased? Well I find it a mixture of two, although Internet is not yet completely a time biased media. But yes we all use internet as a pool of information. The amount of information which we collect is mostly backdated. If we want to find some information back dated it is easily available. Doesn’t this make it a time biased media too?

    The reason why I said that it is not completely a time biased media is because the reliability on the backdated information is not complete. Sometimes the sources are not that credible to be reliable upon. So according to me Internet is definitely a space biased media, but it is also on the process of becoming a time biased media.


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  27. Internet is a classic example of how technology can bridge the gap between time and space biased media. If stone inscriptions have survived the ravages of nature, surely virtual networks can survive through time; and no other medium can beat the portability of the Internet which literally also saves space by utilising virtual space.
    Marshall Macluhan may have hated change of any kind but he was perhaps one of the most visionary of theorists since he spoke about the world as a global village back in the '60s - a good two decades before Internet became commercially prevalent.
    It has long been established that we are now in the technological era and the applicability, uses and role play of the Internet is only going to increase in the years to come.
    With globalisation, as people become more interconnected aided by social media,innovators will only be striving to make communication faster, easier and better, which in turn will turn the virtual spheres into vast public spheres where religious, political, economic, cultural, social and artistic hegemonies break down to make the world a more level playing field by giving a platform and voice to marginalized societies.
    While that might sound Utopian, I feel the world hasn't seen even a fraction of the real potential of the Internet.
    Like all mass mediums, Internet too allows for the existence of an underbelly that threatens the possibility of truly massified society as power structures including those of governments, religious and economic institutions will work to maintain status quos in society through propaganda, agenda setting, framing and priming. However, social media that rides on Internet technology is also yet to reach its potential and as both evolve, we will perhaps see a transformed world in our own lifetimes.

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  28. If I may add about Internet as a medium for manufacturing consent... Internet is only a medium which can be used by content providers to set an agenda or manufacture consent. But those can as easily also be diluted or nullified simply because of the real time access it gives to counter-agendas, giving consumers a wider scope to form their own opinion. While knee-jerk reactions over incendiary content owing to lack of simple gatekeeping and clear regulation cannot be denied, Internet is likely to result in mass movements leading to some interesting times ahead.

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  29. It is seen from the above comments that many of my friends could conclude whether internet is time biased or space biased but one of the things we are definitely ignoring is the fact that we are trying to comment on it without actually realising its true nature. None of us hardly knows even 2% of what is on the internet and thus we are trying to classify it without knowing 98% of it!!And that is a signoficant number. We cant simply classify it without being cautious of what could come next. Innis could not predict this and hence he classified the form of communication into just time or space biased.We should avoid doing the same thing by analysing whatever of internet we know about and therefore, it would be wrong to ignore the fact that internet clearly shows its duality. It is dual in nature in every way..time and space may exist at the same time together or may b isolated.
    As far as internet is considered, we could say that it is a medium in which time and space exist, may b simultaneously or may be isolated at a given point of time and thus classify it differently and if we stick purely to Innis' theory, then it has to be dual in nature.

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  30. Internet is the medium which gives us more information and also a medium of communication.Internet is a both time biased as well as space bias medium. According to Harold Innis, time biased media means last for many generation. once you put up something on the internet, it stays there forever.We can share Videos,store important data in it & they have partly become time bias.As we all know media is time biased because it data remain for long time until any technological problem arise and internet itself is one of the medium of the communication that means it is also a time biased. Space biased means convey information to many people over long distances for example Facebook is an online service that allows people to create a profile and a network of friends; it is primarily a space bias media. It is a space bias media because a user can add friends from networks all over the world; and can in turn access it from anywhere in the world. space based media, internet is better than any other electronic medium, since is not only the fastest communicator but also allows extensive feedback in moments. Internet is only a medium which can be used by content providers to set an agenda or manufacture consent.

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  31. Hi

    While trying to frame the characteristics of the Internet along the axes of space and time-bias medium of Harold Innis, I would like to posit that the materiality of the medium needs to be understood. Internet quite easily moves across both time and space-bias. However, our arguments need to be substantiated by supporting them with theories of materiality of media.

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