Interpersonal divide : the search for community in a technological age / Michael Bugeja.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bugeja, Michael J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Technology--Social aspects.

Technology.

Mass media--Social aspects.

Mass media.

Social perception.

Interpersonal relations.

Communities.

Physical Description:

xiv, 226 pages ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.

Summary:

Electronic communication keeps us wired to the world. Why, then, do so many feel displaced in the global village? Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age answers the question: Have media and technology eroded our sense of community? Author Michael Bugeja analyzes the "interpersonal divide"-the void that develops between people who spend too much time in virtual rather than in real communities-and makes a case for face-to-face communication in a high-tech world. Interpersonal Divide, a ground-breaking book, documents how long-standing media theories-including ones by Marshall McLuhan-may no longer hold in the wake of new media and intrusive technology. Bugeja investigates motives of media ecosystems polluting the Internet with marketing ploys, delivering a global mall rather than a global village. He informs readers how to use media and technology wisely so that they enhance rather than replace community.

Contents:

Introduction: The Need to Belong 1

Thought, Word, and Deed 1

The Search for Acceptance 5

1 Displacement in the Global Village 13

High-Tech and Original Habitats 13

The Interpersonal Divide 19

Big Box Displacement 25

Loss of Perspective 32

A Lifelong Quest 37

2 The Human Condition 40

Peace and Empowerment 40

Survival in Virtual Environments 45

The Marketing of Self-Help 47

The Ethics of Our Condition 50

Convenience over Conscience 55

3 Habits of a High-Tech Age 61

The Hype of Self-Help 61

Seven Habits of Highly Mediated People 66

The Accelerated Biological Clock 70

Wondering What Is Real 74

4 Impact of Media and Technology 81

The Real and Virtually Real 81

The Dawning of Mass Media 84

The Advent of Marketing 88

Vision and Values 91

5 Blurring of Identity and Place 98

The Disembodied Self 98

Mapping the Consumer Genome 104

Moral and Social Upheaval 109

Endangered Habitats 114

6 The Medium Is the Moral 122

McLuhan, Revisited 122

The New Generation Gap 129

The Unnatural Order of Things 135

7 Icons and Caricatures 142

Icons and Idols 142

Icons and Advertising 148

Mentors and Caricatures 153

8 Living Three-Dimensionally 161

Virtues and Environments 161

The Moral Importance of Place 163

Dimensions of Community 171

9 Repatriation to the Village 179

Ethical Inventories 179

Foci of Our Discontent 183

Mis-Mediated Messages 187

A Place in the Village 191.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-218) and index.

ISBN:

0195173406

0195173392

OCLC:

54988957