ABSTRACT
Any analyst of the contemporary world must acknowledge the tremendous increase in information and ICTs. It is evident to anyone, even to those taking only a cursory look, that, for example, there are many more images than ever before and, of course, there is a large range of new media technologies transmitting them. It is also obvious that information networks now cover the globe, operating in real time and handling volumes of information with an unprecedented velocity, making the telegram and telephony of the 1970s appear way out of date. The remarkable ascent of the Internet, from virtually zero in 1995 to majority access across Europe within a decade (Eurostat, 2005), is well known. Usage is chiefly at work, but in countries such as Britain well over half of all homes are connected (Oxford Internet Survey, 2005). Figures are even higher for the United States (Cole, 2005). It is impossible to ignore the routine use of computerised workstations in offices, to be ignorant of rolling news and digital television channels, to be unaware of the pervasive spread and sophistication of computer games, to be blind to the expansion of advertising and its metamorphosis into forms such as sports sponsorship, direct mail and corporate image promotion. In short, the ‘information explosion’ is a striking feature of contemporary life, and any social analyst who ignores it risks not being taken seriously.
