For a very interesting study of the impact of the shift from print media to television, see Joshua Meyrowitz, "No Sense of Place" (1985). He applies Erving Goffman's dramaturgical framework of social situations. In a social situation, we behave in a certain way "on-stage", relying on a "backstage" area that's unknown to the audience. Television has opened up the "backstage" area: for example, there's now much less distinction between what children know and what adults know, compared to the era of print dominance, and there's much less of a gap between expectations for children and adults (e.g. everyone wears jeans).
Similarly, the Internet has created new social situations. This seems primarily structural rather than dependent on individual behavior. If we don't like the results, we'll probably need structural remedies (e.g. self-restraint on the part of platforms, or government regulation) rather than changes to individual behavior.
For a very interesting study of the impact of the shift from print media to television, see Joshua Meyrowitz, "No Sense of Place" (1985). He applies Erving Goffman's dramaturgical framework of social situations. In a social situation, we behave in a certain way "on-stage", relying on a "backstage" area that's unknown to the audience. Television has opened up the "backstage" area: for example, there's now much less distinction between what children know and what adults know, compared to the era of print dominance, and there's much less of a gap between expectations for children and adults (e.g. everyone wears jeans).
Similarly, the Internet has created new social situations. This seems primarily structural rather than dependent on individual behavior. If we don't like the results, we'll probably need structural remedies (e.g. self-restraint on the part of platforms, or government regulation) rather than changes to individual behavior.