Friday, 11 March 2016

The Influence of Popular News Media

My research interests encompass the relationship between information policy and regulation, and fitness trackers (or any technology that collects biometric data).  This interest was sparked by an exploration of news articles, usually through popular media such at television broadcasts, newspapers, or online news outlets.

By exploring sources that are targeted towards the general public and not a particular demographic or group of academics, I was able to gain some insight on how the general public may perceive new technologies, and I believe it may be heavily influenced on the tone presented by the author/news outlet discussing the technology.

Whether there is a skeptical outlook on a new technology, or a glorification of the endless possibilities that it may present the user with, the audience may very well be influenced by the news presented to them.  What I ponder now is if it is possible to conduct research on the news consumption methods of fitness tracker users, and determine whether or not there is a correlation between the privacy concerns they have with their fitness trackers and where they tend to get their information.  This might be beneficial in determining why people have the attitudes they have towards privacy policies and new technologies, and also raise ethical questions about the news outlets themselves, questioning whether or not the tone through which they present information is acceptable in a technologically integrated society.

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