What is the evidence to support the declaration that we are now living in the ‘information society’? In what ways can the concept of ‘information society’ be criticised?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE DECLARATION THAT WE ARE NOW LIVING IN THE `INFORMATION SOCIETY ? IN WHAT WAYS CAN THE CONCEPT OF `INFORMATION SOCIETY ' BE CRITICIZED

Questions surrounding the nature and scope of the media 's impact upon society are intrinsically contentious the wide variety of media on offer to the consumer creates a naturally eclectic set of norms and values from which individuals might draw conclusions . A cultural explanation , unlike Webster 's economic , occupational and spatial definitions of an information society ADDIN EN .CITE Webster6Webster F .Theories

of the information society2002Routl edge (Webster remains too esoteric to allow for detailed quantitative data to be collected . And whilst the qualitative data it inspires could be considered to have equal value , it is nevertheless more open to interpretation than its statistics-heavy brethren

So what is an information society ? The idea should not be taken to its literal route , that technology has allowed free exchange of information on a scale unprecedented throughout t history is not in question . The concept of an information society stems from an idea that information is the commodity in so far as it transcends the limitations of more traditional commodities , such as oil or food . In an information society information and wealth are seen as one and the same , with information acting as a societal nervous system from which all financial transactions react . Information in this social model is not limited to the economic , it is also a social resource one that reinforces and defines culture , particularly at a generic international level . The suggestion that this is indeed an information society does of course need some qualification , a simply blanket definition emphasising its importance in the modern age will not suffice . What is needed is a more in depth examination of the criteria used to define an information society . These definitions as defined by Webster are the economic , the technological , the occupational , the spatial and the cultural

How does the economic state of society support or refute the notion that this is indeed an information society ? One does not have to wait over long before some major information company makes headline news with massively expensive acquisitions such as Google 's purchase of You Tube for 1 .6 billion last October ADDIN EN .CITE BBCBBCGoogle buys YouTube for 1 .65bn 200610 October 2006http /news .bbc co .uk /2 /hi /business /6034577 .stm (BBC . Such acquisitions support an economic variant of the debate that we are indeed living in an information age . With massive profit to be made , some of the largest companies in the world work almost exclusively in the province of information . However , as Salvaggio points out Examining the economic structure alone , provides only a limited view of the social and cultural implications associated with information societies ' ADDIN EN .CITE Salvaggio6Salvaggio J .L .The Information Society : Economic , Social , and Structural Issues 1989Lawrence Erlbaum associates (Salvaggio ) It could be argued that we are as much a pharmaceutical society as an information one since pharmaceutical companies have...