Media and Culture- Gutenberg Revolution vs. the Internet and Social Media

Posted: December 11th, 2013

Compare the societal disruptions that occurred after the development of the printing press to the societal disruptions occurring today as a result of the creation of the web and all it’s ramifications. One aspect of this paper should explore the so-called Arab spring and how revolutions in several totalitarian nations have been affected by social media and instant communication. You should take a distinct point of view in this paper and argue that either we are going through a similar period or that we are not. This paper will be documented with source material. You do not have to footnote it but you must include the source of your information in the paper. While the lectures will be helpful in answering this question, they will not be sufficient to answer the issue fully. Thus, you must do some original research.

You have to analyze the impact of the Gutenberg revolution in the first say 100 years and the impact of the creation of the internet and argue that we are or are not in the midst of a second Gutenberg revolution. The first part of this paper will be to simply talk about what happened to society after the invention of the printing press and it is a minor part of the paper. The major part will focus on what is happening now as a result of the creation of the internet. This will look at world events not just in countries you visited but other nations as well. The issue to determine is what is causing the unrest in the world – economics, media or something else.
Your grade depends on 1. The quality and quantity of your sources. 2. How convincing and cohesive your argument is. So approach it as if this was a debate and you must win your argument or be shot on the spot.

Extra Note–Please feel free to make it longer than 3 pages double spaced if you like. 🙂 But you certainly don’t need to!! I have attached what I have written so far below. It needs to be a lot longer than 3 pages but I couldn’t afford more than that.