Internet

In 2011, the Federal Communications Commission published a 500-page report, “The Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age,” that assessed civic and news industry trends and made recommendations to help address ongoing difficulties.

Since the events of the 2011 Arab Spring were set in motion, a debate has continued over how powerful a role the Internet itself can play in bringing about tangible social change. Evidence may continue to emerge that challenges any current theory. But in any case, new intellectual frameworks are required to analyze this question and guide further study.

The number of college courses available online has steadily grown since the advent of “Web 2.0” interactive technologies in the early 2000s, and in the wake of the economic crisis of 2008. Nearly half (46%) of all college students graduating in 2001 or later have taken at least one online course, and the number of online courses is expected to continue to grow over the next decade.

Speaking with a family member or friend triggers hormonal changes in the body that reduce stress, calm nerves and promote social bonding. It is not clear, however, which elements of a verbal exchange — grammar, syntax, tone and/or word choice — are responsible for triggering these neurochemical responses.

Daily deal Internet sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial are popular with consumers, but the extent of benefits for participating merchants — who agree to significant price cuts and experience subsequent social media reviews — remains a subject of debate.

Firms pay to compete for the top slot within search engines such as Google. The first result for a search for “toys,” for example, will show a paid placement followed by organic search results generated by an algorithm. How search results influence buying and price-shopping habits within the online ecosystem — and what ultimate benefit it has for businesses — is a matter of ongoing economic and marketing research.

Scholars from Northwestern University set out to study an underappreciated aspect of public opinion and communications: how the sequence and timing of messages from electoral and policy campaigns can shape views over longer intervals of time. Typically, as the scholars point out, experimental research has focused on the short-term effects of a given message on the public and has found that two competing, simultaneous messages can cancel one another out.

While online social contact can be traced back to the 1980s, online dating began to gain more prominence — and participants — around 1997, according to a 2011 study by the Oxford Internet Institute. The incorporation of Web 2.0 interactive technologies and database support helped online dating to steadily expand: Before 1997, only 6% of singles searched for potential companions online; after 1997, 30% of singles did.