Other than making possible different kinds of social arrangements for participants, media also have an effect on two very important aspects of relationships: power and dis-tance. Technologies can make some people more powerful than others or they can erase power differences between people. For example, if I have a microphone and you don't, then I have power to make my voice heard than you do. Similarly, if I have the ability to pub-lish my views and you don't, then I have greater power to get my opinions noticed than you do. One way the internet has changed the power relations among people is to give every-one the power to publish their ideas and disseminate them to millions of people. This is not to say that the internet has made everyone's ideas equal. It's just that more people have the opportunity to get their ideas noticed.
I was intrigued by this use of "power and distance." My immediate thought was that often technology can allow people to feel more powerful because of their distance. I think people are more bold to criticize others and to publish their opinions without thought of offense to others. People are living in this time when they can have an opinion on anything because they "lived it" on the media... back to the previous portion on meaning... Most happenings are available to us in "real time." This allows people to feel entitled to have an opinion or an opinion anyone would care about! I want to challenge myself to look for examples in media, which "erases power differences between people." I think we are seeing more of that then ever given recent events...