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The Fifth Estate of the Internet Realm
William H. Dutton
Oxford Internet Institute (OII) University of Oxford
www.ox.ac.uk
Presentation for the OII’s Undergraduate Lecture Series, 25 October 2010.
‘Stephen Fry has said he is going to quit Twitter after a fellow user of the popular Internet site described him as “boring”. … ’
The Sunday Times, 1 November 2009: 1
Fry later laments that he felt caught in the middle of the ‘Fifth Estate’.
Media Viewing the Internet as a Disruptive Threat
“[Edmund] Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more prominent far than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or witty saying; it is a literal fact – very momentous to us in these times.”
Thomas Carlyle (1831), Heroes and Hero-Worship, at www.gutenberg.org.etext/1091
The Fourth Estate
Feudal Estates into the 21st Century
Estates Feudal Modern
Clergy Public Intellectuals
Nobility Business, Industry and Economic Elites
Commons Government
‘4th Estate’ Press Journalists and the Mass Media
Mob Mob
Press in the 18th Century -- the ‘Fourth Estate’ Internet in the 21st -- enabling a Fifth Estate
Enabling people to network with other individuals and with information, services and technical resources in ways that support social accountability in business and industry, government, politics, and the media.
The Fourth and Fifth Estates
Pattern of Empirical Findings:• Networked Individuals• Space of Flows v Space of Places (Castells)• Patterns of Information Seeking and Communication• Centrality of the Internet• Trust across Media
• Networked Individuals v Networked Institutions• Communicative Power: Networks of Social Accountability• Threats from, and Complementarities with, other Estates
The Fifth Estate: A Sensitizing Concept
• Studies of the political implications of information and communication technologies, like the Internet
• Distributed Problem-Solving Networks, supported by McKinsey
• Oxford eSocial Science Project (OeSS), supported by the ESRC
• Oxford Internet Surveys, part of the World Internet Project
Based on a Range of OII Research
• 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009• Cross-sectional Surveys versus Panels• Multi-Stage Probability Sample • England, Scotland & Wales • Respondents: 14 years and older• Face-to-face Interviews, High Response Rates• Sponsorship for 2009 from the British Library,
Higher Education Funding Council for England, Ofcom, and Scottish and Southern Energy
• Component of World Internet Project (WIP)
Oxford Internet Surveys
2003 2005 2007 2009
Fielded in June-July February-
MarchMarch-
AprilFebruary-
March
Number of respondents 2,030 2,185 2,350 2,013
Response rate 66% 72% 77% 67%
OxIS Samples
Networked Individuals
Evidence: A Pattern of Findings
Information Seeking Online (QC22)
Current users. OxIS 2005: N=1,309; OxIS 2007: N=1,578; OxIS 2009: N=1,401
12
Looking for Information on Different Media (QA1)
OxIS 2009: N=2,013
13
Looking for Information on Different Media (QA1)
OxIS 2005: N=2,185; OxIS 2007: N=2,350; OxIS 2009: N=2,013. 14
2005 2007 20090%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
29%39%
48%
38%33%
30%
22% 18%15%
11% 10% 7%
TaxesUse the Internet Use the telephonePersonal Visit Directory or book
2005 2007 20090%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
46%55%
62%
13%8%
8%
35% 30%25%
7% 8% 5%
Planning a tripUse the Internet Use the telephonePersonal Visit Directory or book
Looking for Information on Different Media (QA1)
OxIS 2005: N=2,185; OxIS 2007: N=2,350; OxIS 2009: N=2,013. 15
2005 2007 20090%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
28%40%
52%
21%
15%
13%
40%37%
28%
11% 8% 7%
Local schoolsUse the Internet Use the telephone Personal Visit Directory or book
Ways to Look for Information Online (QC25)
Current users. OxIS 2005: N=1,309; OxIS 2007: N=1,578; OxIS 2009: N=1,401Note. Question changed in 2007. 16
Creativity and Production Online (QC10 and QC31)
Current users. OxIS 2005: N=1,309; OxIS 2007: N=1,578; OxIS 2009: N=1,401Note. Social networking question changed in 2009.
17
Reliability of Information on the Internet (QA4)
OxIS 2003: N=2,029; OxIS 2005: N=2,185; OxIS 2007 N=2,350. OxIS 2009: N=2,013Note. The scale changed from a 10 point scale in 2007 to a 5 point scale in 2009.
18
Reliability of Information by Internet Users and Non-Users 2009 (QA4 by QH14)
OxIS 2009: N=2,013Note. The scale changed from a 10 point scale in 2007 to a 5 point scale in 2009.
19
Average Importance of Media for Information by Internet Users and Non-Users (QA2 by QH14)
OxIS 2009: N=2,013 20
Centrality of the Internet and Trust over Time
OxIS 2003: N=2,029; OxIS 2005: N=2,185; OxIS 2007 N=2,350. OxIS 2009: N=2,013
Networked IndividualsNetworked Institutions v Individuals
Evidence: A Pattern of Findings
• Wisdom of Crowds?• Networked Individuals• Managing Networked Individuals• Three Types of Networks supporting CNOs:• 1.0 Sharing (Web, Semantic Web, Deep
Linking)• 2.0 Contributing (User-generated content)• 3.0 Co-creating (Collaborative Production)
Collaborative Network Organizations
Networked Institutions, such as in e-Health Networked Individuals of the Fifth Estate: going to the Internet for health and medical
information networking physicians via Sermo
Networked Institutions v Networked Individuals of the Fifth Estate
Sermo
Networked Institutions of the Fourth Estate: online journalism, BBC online, broadcasting live micro-blogging during debates …
Networked Individuals of the Fifth Estate: citizen journalists, bloggers, individuals posting video on YouTube, hyper-local Websites, WikiLeaks, social networks referring friends to news and information, …
Networked Institutions v Networked Individuals of the Fifth Estate
Networked Institutions of e-Democracy: e-Consultation, e-Voting
Networked Individuals of the Fifth Estate: political movements, such as aftermath of 2004 Madrid train bombing, Moveon.org, Obama Presidential campaign, protests following 2009 elections in Iran, Twittering the TV debates
Boundary Spanning: e-Petitions (Road Pricing in Britain
Networked Institutions v Networked Individuals of the Fifth Estate
Arenas Shaped by 5th Estate
• Press and Media (‘citizen journalism’)• Governance and Democracy
(‘netizens’)• Business and Commerce (‘ratings’)• Work and the Organization (CNOs)• Education (‘backchannels’)
Public Sphere (Habermas) Information Commons Space of Flows (Castells) Engineered Information Space (Berners-Lee) Fifth Estate Enabled by this Space of Flows
Alternative Conceptions
Networked IndividualsNetworked Institutions v IndividualsCommunicative Power: Networks of
Social Accountability
Evidence: A Pattern of Findings
Technical Novelty -- passing fad, not relevant (not ubiquitous), or not ‘real’
Deterministic Technology of Freedom or Control Reinforcement Politics A Strategic Resource for Reconfiguring Access
[enabling a Fifth Estate]
The Politics of the Internet
How is the Internet being used to ‘reconfigure access’? Are there discernable patterns?
Does the Internet enable key actors to reconfigure access in ways that enhance their ‘communicative power’?
Key Questions Concerning the Politics of the Digital Age
Universal access v Critical mass of users
Percentage of Internet Users Across Regions of the World
Regions as Percentage of the Worldwide Population of Users
Use by Age (QH14 by QD1)
OxIS 2005: N=2,185; OxIS 2007: N=2,350; OxIS 2009: N=2,013
37
Use by Lifestage (QH14 by QD15)
OxIS 2003: N=2,029, OxIS 2005: N=2,185; OxIS 2007: N=2,350; OxIS 2009: N=2,013
38
Networked IndividualsNetworked Institutions v IndividualsCommunicative Power: Networks of
Social AccountabilityThreats and Complementarities
Evidence: A Pattern of Findings
Industrial Strategies News Music Cable and Telecommunications Mobile Broadcasting (Web TV)
Governmental and Regulatory Regimes Public
New Challenges: A Threat and a Target
18th Century Estates: 21st Century Enemies
18th Century Estates
21st Century: Enemies of the 5th Estate
Attacks
Clergy Public Intellectuals ‘Culture of Amateurism’, individualist consumerism
Nobility Business, Industry and Economic Elites
Vertical Integration; Monopoly over Search; Three Strikes
Commons Government and Regulatory Agencies
Filtering; Content Regulation; Identification; Disconnection
Press Journalists and the Mass Media
Echo Chambers; but Co-opting, Imitating, Competing
Mob Spammers, Fraudsters, Cyberstalkers, …
Undermining Trust and Confidence; Fostering Regulation of Content
Centrality of the Internet, Trust in Government and Attitudes toward Internet Regulation over Time
OxIS 2003: N=2,029; OxIS 2005: N=2,185; OxIS 2007 N=2,350. OxIS 2009: N=2,013
The Fifth Estate: Selected References
Dutton, W. H. (2008), ‘The Wisdom of Collaborative Network Organizations: Capturing the Value of Networked Individuals’, Prometheus, 26(3), September, pp. 211-30. Dutton, W. H. (2009), ‘The Fifth Estate Emerging through the Network of Networks’, Prometheus, Vol. 27, No. 1, March: pp. 1-15. Dutton, W. H., and Eynon, R. (2009), ‘Networked Individuals and Institutions: A Cross-Sector Comparative Perspective on Patterns and Strategies in Government and Research’, The Information Society 25 (3): pp. 1-11.
Dutton, W. H. (2010), ‘The Fifth Estate: Democratic Social Accountability through the Emerging Network of Networks’, pp. 3-18 in Nixon, P. G., Koutrakou, V. N., and Rawal, R. (Eds), Understanding E-Government in Europe: Issues and Challenges. London: Routledge.
The Fifth Estate of the Internet Realm
William H. Dutton
Oxford Internet Institute (OII) University of Oxford
www.ox.ac.uk
Presentation for the OII’s Undergraduate Lecture Series, 25 October 2010.