How has the internet changed the way we communicate? Hurricane Irene

This blog is a class project for a course in computer mediated communication.  Looking back over the last 5 years of syllabi for this course, the focus on CMC has shifted from static text only (web pages, web 1.0) to interaction/discourse (social networks, blogs, web 2.0) to the semantic and visual web (netflix, google, youtube, web 3.0 and visuaweb).

We still have web pages, blogs, social networks, search engines, and browsers like 10 years ago, but how they are used has changed.  To demonstrate how the combination of communication technologies available are used in tandem to tell a story, we can look at how Irene was reported in Upstate New York and New England.

Almost three years ago, our region had a serious ice storm that resulted in power outages and extensive damage. At the time, we had a battery run TV, a landline telephone, and a laptop (without internet connection because of no electricity).  We received information about the closures, power outages, and damage usually with a half day lag.  

When Irene hit, the TV stations used twitter, facebook, and youtube to collect information, photos, and videos about what was happening where. My daughter's friends kept in touch as they were being evacuated (which still was done by going door to door).  A record of what happened where is still available in multiple places.  

One of the roads I traveled regularly for a year between Albany and Brattleboro, VT

was washed out ,isolating residents, and yet we heard about it within minutes of it happening and had images of it the next day.  I lived and studied  in Brattleboro for a year, and I was able to see all the familiar places underwater the evening it happened.  The blog from the UAlbany department of atmospheric and environmental science interpreted the science behind the hurricane and provided a good record of what was going on in our area scientifically.

All of these technologies together tell the story in a different way, sometimes providing targeted information and other times interpreting the information.  Individuals are able to follow the stories using the types of communication and information that makes understanding accessible.  Most internet users identify the tools to communicate and create meaning that will be significant for them.

In the weeks to come, I hope that followers of this blog will find student insights on the affordances of communication technology, apps, and software to be useful in choosing technology and strategies that will improve communication.