Tuesday 1 February 2011

Impact of New and Digital Media Case Study

8. What are the political and social implications of the new technologies and the methods of their consumption?

The social implications regarding Apple's App Store would be that audiences such as teenagers are able to purchase applications which can suit their tastes and preferences. As well as this, the App Store' would be social trend , as Apple is a global brand and is successful in terms of many apps sold and the usefulness of the applications. The audience may find that the app store is a way of communicating with friends and family and is a way of becoming popular.

Similarly, the political implications of the Apple App Store would be that political parties may use applications for their advantage, for example the Conservative party have an app which measures how many seats they have in parliament and is also an interesting app for voters who can see how popular the party is in government.

In contrast, certain applications in the app store may be of social concern, as there are applications which include sexual and immoral content, for example the 'Real or Fake' application contains sexual content, which could be viewed by children. In previous years, there have been applications which have been banned due to their content. Applications such as 'Baby Shaker' was one of a few apps which was criticised , as the consumer had to try to quiet a crying baby by shaking it. This app caused outrage amongst parents, as they felt the app was 'distasteful and dangerous'. Similarly, applications such as The BILD Girl app was criticised due to its sexual content and lack of censorship, as audiences have to shake the iPhone in order for the girl to strip naked.

Along the same lines, politicians and heads of state were angered at the fact that there was a 'Wikileaks' application available in the app store. Therefore politicians would be concerned at this because the application contained documents which would be a threat to national security and relations between countries such as the UK and the US.

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