Which of the following are features of social network sites in danah boyd and Nicole Ellison's definition (2007)? Select all that apply.

The ability to view and traverse one's own and others' lists of connections

A list of other users with whom the user shares a connection

A public or semi-public profile within a bounded system

A paid subscription for every user

The ability to view and traverse one's own and others' lists of connections

A list of other users with whom the user shares a connection

A public or semi-public profile within a bounded system

Assertion (A): A metered paywall lets readers see a limited number of articles free each month before asking them to subscribe. Reason (R): A hard paywall allows no free articles at all. Choose the correct option.

Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A

Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A

Social information processing theory holds that online communicators:

Develop relationships as full as face-to-face ones, but more slowly, by encoding social cues in text and timing

Lose their group identity when anonymous

Develop relationships as full as face-to-face ones, but more slowly, by encoding social cues in text and timing

Can never form close relationships because non-verbal cues are missing

Always prefer rich media for every task

Which of the following statements about platforms as two-sided markets are correct? Select all that apply.

A platform serves two groups, such as users and advertisers, whose participation affects each other

The marginal cost of serving one more user rises steeply

A platform must charge both sides the same price

A platform serves two groups, such as users and advertisers, whose participation affects each other

ICT and Media I: ICT and Media — Definition, Characteristics and Role; the Effects of Computer-Mediated Communication; the Impact of ICT on Mass Media and Digitisation; Social Networking; and the Economics and Commerce of Web-Enabled Media

The eighth unit asks how information and communication technologies have changed the media. This chapter takes its first three items: the definition, characteristics and role of ICT in the media, the effects of computer-mediated communication, the impact of ICT on the mass media and digitisation; social networking; and the economics and commerce of web-enabled media. Paper-1 and other subjects on this platform teach ICT as technology; here the questions are communicative and economic: how networked, digital media change who speaks, who listens, and who pays. Chapter 18 continues with mobile media, new-media ethics, ICT for development and e-governance, and animation.

1. ICT and media: definition, characteristics and role

Information and communication technologies are the technologies for creating, storing, processing, transmitting and receiving information: computers, the internet, mobile phones, broadcasting and the software and networks that connect them. For the media they matter because they changed the characteristics of communication itself. Digital media are digital (content is coded as numbers and can be copied, edited and transmitted without loss), networked (connected in many-to-many rather than one-to-many structures), interactive (users respond and create as well as receive), hypertextual (content is linked), multimedia (text, sound, image and video combined), convergent (one device and one network carry what used to need several), and often asynchronous (people use content when they choose). Their role in the media now spans gathering news, producing and distributing content, reaching and measuring audiences, and earning revenue.

Digitisation is the conversion of analogue signals, such as sound waves or images, into digital data by sampling the signal at intervals and quantising each sample into a number. Once content is digital, convergence follows. Henry Jenkins's Convergence Culture (2006) described it as more than technology: the flow of content across multiple platforms, the co-operation of multiple media industries, and the migratory behaviour of audiences who go almost anywhere for the experiences they want, together with a participatory culture in which fans and users create. Digitisation made it possible to switch television from analogue to digital transmission, to replace film with files, and to move newspapers online.

⚠️ Digitisation and digitalisation

Digitisation converts analogue content into digital form; digitalisation, a broader term, is the reorganisation of work and business around digital technology. The syllabus's "digitisation" is the first; the business changes in section 4 are the second.

2. The effects of computer-mediated communication

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is human communication through networked computers and phones: e-mail, messaging, forums, social media and video calls. Early theories stressed what CMC lacks. Social presence theory (Short, Williams and Christie, 1976) held that media differ in how far they convey the presence of the other person, and that lower presence suits less personal tasks. Media richness theory (Richard Daft and Robert Lengel, 1986) ranked media by their capacity for immediate feedback, multiple cues, natural language and personal focus, from face-to-face (richest) through telephone to written documents (leanest), and predicted that ambiguous tasks need rich media. The cues-filtered-out view concluded that text-based CMC is impersonal and prone to hostile "flaming".

Later theories found that people adapt. Joseph Walther's social information processing theory (1992) argued that users develop relationships online as fully as offline, only more slowly, by encoding social cues in text, timing and style. His hyperpersonal model (1996) went further: because senders can edit and present themselves selectively and receivers fill gaps with idealised impressions, CMC can become more intimate than face-to-face contact. The SIDE model (social identity model of deindividuation effects) explains that anonymity strengthens group identity rather than dissolving it, which helps explain online polarisation, and John Suler's online disinhibition effect (2004) explains both unusual openness and toxic behaviour online. Howard Rheingold's The Virtual Community (1993) described the positive side: communities formed around shared interests regardless of place.

Theories of computer-mediated communication
Theory	Author and year	Claim about CMC
Social presence	Short, Williams and Christie, 1976	Media differ in conveying the other's presence
Media richness	Daft and Lengel, 1986	Rich media for ambiguous tasks, lean media for routine ones
Social information processing	Walther, 1992	Relationships form online, but more slowly
Hyperpersonal model	Walther, 1996	Selective self-presentation can make CMC more intimate
Online disinhibition	Suler, 2004	Anonymity and invisibility loosen restraint, for good and ill

3. The impact of ICT on the mass media

ICT changed the mass media in five linked ways. It dissolved the scarcity of channels, so that anyone can publish, and it turned audiences into participants: Alvin Toffler's "prosumer" (1980) and Jay Rosen's "the people formerly known as the audience" (2006) name the shift, visible in user-generated content and citizen journalism. It disintermediated and unbundled the old media: classified advertising moved to specialist websites, and readers came to individual stories through search and social feeds rather than through the front page. It created the long tail, described by Chris Anderson (2004 article, 2006 book): when shelf space is unlimited, many niche products together can rival a few hits. It made media personalised and algorithmic, which Eli Pariser called the filter bubble (2011) and Cass Sunstein, earlier, the echo chamber in Republic.com (2001). And it made news continuous, multimedia and measurable in real time.

💡 The long tail

A small bookshop stocks only bestsellers because shelf space is costly; an online store can list millions of titles, and the few copies each obscure title sells add up. Digital media do the same for niche programmes, podcasts and regional-language content.

5. The economics and commerce of web-enabled media

Web-enabled media earn money in several ways, often combined. Advertising includes display, search, video and native advertising, increasingly bought programmatically, by automated auctions, and priced by cost per thousand impressions (CPM), cost per click (CPC) or cost per acquisition (CPA). Reader revenue includes hard paywalls (no free access), metered paywalls (a few free articles a month before payment), freemium models (basic content free, premium paid), memberships and donations. Other sources include e-commerce and affiliate links, events, licensing and syndication, and payments from platforms. The click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions: 250 clicks from 50,000 impressions is a CTR of 0.5 per cent.

The economics are those of platforms. A platform is a two-sided or multi-sided market, serving users on one side and advertisers, sellers or developers on the other, and it can price the sides differently, often free to users and paid by advertisers. Network effects make a platform more valuable as more people use it; Metcalfe's law expresses this by saying a network's value grows roughly with the square of its users, since n users can form n(n − 1) ÷ 2 connections, so 10 users can form 45. Network effects and data advantages push digital advertising towards a few global companies, which is why news publishers in several countries have sought payment from platforms; Australia's News Media Bargaining Code (2021) was the first such law. Herbert Simon's observation (1971) that a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention sums up the attention economy in which all web-enabled media now compete.

🧠 Two web formulas

CTR = clicks ÷ impressions × 100. Possible connections in a network of n users = n(n − 1) ÷ 2. For 10 users: 10 × 9 ÷ 2 = 45.

Key takeaways

ICT makes media digital, networked, interactive, hypertextual, multimedia, convergent and asynchronous; digitisation samples and quantises analogue signals; Jenkins's Convergence Culture (2006) adds industries, audiences and participatory culture.
CMC theories: social presence (1976), media richness (Daft and Lengel 1986), cues filtered out and flaming, social information processing (Walther 1992), hyperpersonal (1996), SIDE, online disinhibition (Suler 2004), virtual community (Rheingold 1993).
Impact on mass media: participation (Toffler's prosumer, Rosen's "people formerly known as the audience"), disintermediation and unbundling, the long tail (Anderson), filter bubbles (Pariser 2011) and echo chambers (Sunstein 2001), continuous measurable news.
Social networking: boyd and Ellison's definition (2007); SixDegrees 1997 to Facebook 2004, Twitter 2006 (X 2023), WhatsApp 2009, Instagram 2010; the 2020 app ban under s.69A; weak ties (Granovetter 1973) and bonding and bridging capital (Putnam 2000).
Web economics: programmatic advertising priced by CPM, CPC or CPA; hard, metered and freemium paywalls; two-sided platforms and network effects (Metcalfe's law; n(n − 1) ÷ 2 connections); platform dominance and bargaining codes (Australia 2021); Simon's attention economy (1971); CTR = clicks ÷ impressions.

Practice questions (10)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

The theory that ranks media by their capacity for immediate feedback, multiple cues, natural language and personal focus, from face-to-face down to written documents, is:
1. The long tail, by Anderson
2. The hyperpersonal model, by Walther
3. The online disinhibition effect, by Suler
4. Media richness theory, by Daft and Lengel
Show answer
Answer: D — Media richness theory, by Daft and Lengel
Daft and Lengel's media richness theory (1986) ranks media by these four criteria and matches rich media to ambiguous tasks. The hyperpersonal model explains heightened intimacy online, the long tail is about niche demand, and disinhibition about loosened restraint.
The "long tail", the idea that many niche products can together rival a few hits when distribution is unlimited, was popularised by:
1. Henry Jenkins
2. Chris Anderson
3. Eli Pariser
4. Jay Rosen
Show answer
Answer: B — Chris Anderson
Chris Anderson described the long tail in a 2004 Wired article and a 2006 book. Pariser coined the filter bubble, Jenkins wrote Convergence Culture, and Rosen wrote of "the people formerly known as the audience".
An online advertisement is shown 50,000 times and receives 250 clicks. What is its click-through rate as a percentage? Type the number.
Numerical answer — type the value.
Show answer
Answer: 0.5
CTR = clicks ÷ impressions × 100 = 250 ÷ 50,000 × 100 = 0.5 per cent. A common slip is to divide impressions by clicks, which gives 200, a number with no meaning as a rate.
In a network of 10 users, how many distinct two-person connections are possible? Type the number.
Numerical answer — type the value.
Show answer
Answer: 45
The number of possible connections is n(n − 1) ÷ 2 = 10 × 9 ÷ 2 = 45. Because this grows roughly with the square of n, Metcalfe's law says a network's value rises much faster than its number of users, which is the root of network effects.
Which of the following are features of social network sites in danah boyd and Nicole Ellison's definition (2007)? Select all that apply.
1. A paid subscription for every user
2. The ability to view and traverse one's own and others' lists of connections
3. A list of other users with whom the user shares a connection
4. A public or semi-public profile within a bounded system
Show answer
Answer: B — The ability to view and traverse one's own and others' lists of connections; C — A list of other users with whom the user shares a connection; D — A public or semi-public profile within a bounded system
boyd and Ellison's three features are the profile, the articulated list of connections, and the ability to view and traverse connections. Payment is not part of the definition; most such sites are free to users and funded by advertising.
"Convergence Culture" (2006), which describes the flow of content across platforms and participatory audiences, was written by:
1. Manuel Castells
2. Howard Rheingold
3. Henry Jenkins
4. Marshall McLuhan
Show answer
Answer: C — Henry Jenkins
Henry Jenkins's Convergence Culture (2006) treats convergence as cultural as well as technological. Castells wrote on the network society, Rheingold on virtual communities, and McLuhan on media as extensions of man decades earlier.
Assertion (A): A metered paywall lets readers see a limited number of articles free each month before asking them to subscribe. Reason (R): A hard paywall allows no free articles at all. Choose the correct option.
1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
3. A is true, but R is false
4. A is false, but R is true
Show answer
Answer: B — Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
Both are true, but R does not explain A. R describes a different model; the metered paywall offers a free allowance in order to keep occasional readers and their advertising value while converting regular readers into subscribers.
The term "filter bubble", for the isolation produced by algorithmic personalisation, was coined by:
1. Eli Pariser
2. Cass Sunstein
3. Joseph Walther
4. Mark Granovetter
Show answer
Answer: A — Eli Pariser
Eli Pariser's The Filter Bubble (2011) named the effect. Sunstein described echo chambers earlier in Republic.com (2001), a related but different idea about self-selection; Granovetter wrote on weak ties and Walther on computer-mediated relationships.
Social information processing theory holds that online communicators:
1. Lose their group identity when anonymous
2. Develop relationships as full as face-to-face ones, but more slowly, by encoding social cues in text and timing
3. Can never form close relationships because non-verbal cues are missing
4. Always prefer rich media for every task
Show answer
Answer: B — Develop relationships as full as face-to-face ones, but more slowly, by encoding social cues in text and timing
Walther's theory (1992) says people adapt to text-based media and build relationships over time. The second option is the cues-filtered-out view it rejected; the third misstates media richness; and the SIDE model argues that anonymity strengthens, not dissolves, group identity.
Which of the following statements about platforms as two-sided markets are correct? Select all that apply.
1. The marginal cost of serving one more user rises steeply
2. A platform must charge both sides the same price
3. Network effects make a platform more valuable as more people use it
4. A platform serves two groups, such as users and advertisers, whose participation affects each other
Show answer
Answer: C — Network effects make a platform more valuable as more people use it; D — A platform serves two groups, such as users and advertisers, whose participation affects each other
Platforms link two sides whose value depends on each other, and network effects raise value with scale. They typically price the sides differently, often free for users, and the marginal cost of an extra user is low, not steeply rising, which is why platforms scale so quickly.