ABSTRACT
The tremendous increase in information and attendant technologies over recent years must be acknowledged. It is evident, even to those taking only a cursory look, that 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with an unprecedented volume and velocity, making the telegram and POTs (plain old telephony) of the 1970s appear way out of date. The remarkable growth of the internet and World Wide Web, from virtually zero in 1995 to majority access across Europe within a decade, is well known. By 2012 73 per cent of individuals in the European Union (Eurostat, 2012) used the internet (and 30 per cent gained access with mobile devices away from home or work). There is, of course, variation across nations, with such as Romania and Bulgaria having less digital penetration than Nordic countries. Nonetheless, the trend is unmistakable: for rapid adoption, with over 80 per cent of households in the likes of Germany, Britain, France and the Netherlands. Figures are if anything higher for the United States (Center for the Digital Future, 2012), where social media are being rapidly taken up (Pew, 2012). It is impossible to ignore the routine use of computerized work stations 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 (or to miss its insinuation in e-mail and on YouTube and Facebook). In short, the ‘information explosion’ is an unmistakable feature of contemporary life and any social analyst who ignores it risks not being taken seriously.
