The Digital Shift, Information Policy and Society.

Here are five trends that I identified from the video above:

1. The switch to digital media from traditional media is impacting how products are marketed to individuals.

2. People are more inclined to not pay for material downloaded off the internet than they are to legally get access. But they would rather pay for add free TV than sit through mundane advertisements.

3.  Miniaturization of technology has enabled more people to conveniently communicate  and use the internet from anywhere than possible in the past.

4. Alot of people are using social networks whether to promote causes, products or ideologies or just to comment about current issues to friends, family or anyone who'll listen.

5, Social media is now a conduit for breaking the lastest news stories due to it's crowd sourcing ability.


These 5 trends that have been identified since the transition from traditional media to digital media began. This digital shift has impacted upon how governments, corporations and individuals communicate, exchange and control information. Governments and corporations have attempted to control the flow of information with policies and laws in order to protect intellectual property and resources invested in creating content for profit. While some consumers of digital content challenge this control by pirating content avoiding paying for it through illegal networks while others would prefer to pay to view content add free. The ability to access content from multiple sources has meant that governments and media organizations had to join the digital revolution in order to reach out and communicate with digital citizens.
Citizens have also benefited from the miniaturizing of technology and the advent of mobile communications by being able to access social networking sites on the move. Giving people the ability voice opinions, influence others and access content on any topic at any time.

This has made it necessary for governments and corporations to develop information policies to address the behaviors of individuals which are contrary to the common good of nations and protect intellectual property. For example individuals can voice an opinion that  may contain factual errors which could affect reputation of another person or cause undue financial hardship to an organization or an individual. This is particularly pertinent when considering an individual   may act on behalf of a government body or being in an influential officer in a corporation. Having an information policy in place provides a means to manage social media use and regulate an individual's behavior in accordance with accepted organizational practices. The policy is also necessary to inform individuals using social media of their responsibilities when acting in behalf of an organization and any consequences of misuse.

Do you have any comments?