Virtual Publics

How does virtuality affect reality? Fourteen experts consider this question from the perspective of law, architecture, rhetoric, philosophy, and art. Nearly all of the contributors have been online since before Netscape and a graphical World Wide Web; thus they have a thorough understanding of the cultural shifts the Internet has produced and been affected by, and they have a keen appreciation for the potential of the medium. Most scholarship on cyberculture has repeatedly emphasized that our offline selves determine how we are able to use technology, that real life affects what we do online. This volume is an attempt to reverse that discussion, to demonstrate that how we live online affects our lives offline as well. A virtual public is not an unreal one.

This book explores how new media technologies such as e-mails, online forums, blogs and social networking sites have helped shape new forms of public spheres. Offering new readings of Jürgen Habermas’s notion of the public sphere, scholars from diverse disciplines interrogate the power and possibilities of new media in creating and disseminating public information; changing human communication at the interpersonal, institutional and societal levels; and affecting our self-fashioning as private and public individuals. Beginning with philosophical approaches to the subject, the book goes on to explore the innovative deployment of new media in areas as diverse as politics, social activism, piracy, sexuality, ethnic identity and education. The book will immensely interest those in media, culture and gender studies, philosophy, political science, sociology and anthropology.

Digital technologies have transformed cultural perceptions of learning and what it means to be literate, expanding the importance of experience alongside interpretation and reflection. Learning the Virtual Life offers ways to consider the local and global effects of digital media on educational environments, as well as the cultural transformations of how we now define learning and literacy. While some have welcomed the educational challenges of digital culture and emphasized its possibilities for individual emancipation and social transformation in the new information age, others accuse digital culture of absorbing its recipients in an all-pervasive virtual world. Unlike most accounts of the educational and cultural consequences of digital culture, Learning the Virtual Life presents a neutral, advanced introduction to the key issues involved with the integration of digital culture and education. This edited collection presents international perspectives on a wide range of issues, and each chapter combines upper-level theory with "real-world" practice, making this essential reading for all those interested in digital media and education.

With recent advances and investment in artificial intelligence, are we on the verge of introducing virtual public servants? Governments around the world are rapidly deploying robots and virtual agents in healthcare, education, local government, social care, and criminal justice. These advances not only promise unprecedented levels of control and convenience at a reduced cost but also claim to connect, to empathise, and to build trust. This book documents how—after decades of designing out costly face to face transactions, investment in call centres, and incentivising citizens to self-service—the tech industry is promising to re-humanise our frontline public services. It breaks out of disciplinary silos and moves us on from the polarised hype vs. fear discussion on the future of work. It does so through in-depth Q-methodology interviews with a wide range of frontline public servants, from doctors to librarians, from social workers to school receptionists, and from police officers to call handlers. The first of its kind, this book should be of interest across the social sciences and to anyone concerned with how recent measures to digitise and automate our services are paving the way for the development of full-blown AI in frontline work.

This handy guide and supplemental text examines trends in information and communication technology (ICT) that impact the day-to-day operations of federal, state, and local government. It seeks to improve service delivery, human resource administration, political participation, education, and citizen input (e-democracy), while at the same time recognizes that with ICT’s great promise comes great peril in the form of erosion of personal privacy (e-surveillance). Through the use of numerous examples and exercises, Robert Cropf helps students and practitioners alike explore the ways technological change shapes public policy, develop useful tools and skills for working in or with e-government, and understand the role that social media plays in helping to spark political, economic, and social change.

"This book demonstrates how the virtual public sphere uses information communications technology to empower ordinary citizens to engage in effective public discourse and provide the technological means to effect political change"--Résumé de l'éditeur.

Offering a comparative analysis of "community-literacy studies," this volume traces common values in diverse accounts of "ordinary people going public."

Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach, Cases Edition, adds 24 timely and exciting cases to the authors' successful introductory book, engaging the reader in the practice of public relations. Maintaining the intriguing and effective features of Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach, the Cases Edition offers case studies with discussion questions to convey the excitement and challenges of real-world public relations. Mixing positive examples with public relations activities gone awry, the authors have developed eight brand-new case studies and updated cases from previous editions of Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach proven to help the reader gain an understanding of the industry. An online Instructor's Manual provides answers to the thought-provoking discussion questions. In a time when society is holding individuals and organizations to high standards of conduct, Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach, Cases Edition, teaches the reader how to build ethical, productive relationships with strategic constituencies. Steeped in the traditions and theories of public relations, the book features an engaging, informal tone. It abounds with lively anecdotes and comes in at a reasonable price for students.