Justin, Dea and I formed this through the use of Justin as a scribe. Ideas were being thrown left, right and centre, flowing like the water through the pipes above our very heads. We decided to each choose an aspect of the ‘Technological Timeline’, Justin chose TV, Dea the Printing Press and Radio for me, with all of us tying the internet together at the end as the internet unifies all such aspects.

 

Jasmine put forward a unique idea, an idea which was furthered in my Pop Culture Seminar a few days later, of the views and uses of Tor, the ‘Deep Web’ and the internet as a whole. This highlights both the good and bad aspects of freely available information and products. Both of which can be used for either good or evil.

A journalist in Egypt can use Tor to document the harsh reality going on around them, circumventing censorship, regulation and potential prosecution in order to ensure Freedom of Speech. But a member of ISIS can also use Tor to unite their front and wreak havoc amongst a society. It’s a fine balance and the exact reason why Net Neutrality is such a heavily debated subject.

 

In my research of pirate radio stations- bringing up memories of The Boat That Rocked- I’ve found that this debate is not at all a modern one, with regulation always being a main issue in all areas of media.

 

Media technologies are completely and utterly interesting to research. It is through such studies we can glimpse the history of the media industry, we can learn from our mistakes and attempt to rectify them, thus creating the best industry possibly imaginable in our current era.