The Rise of the Fifth Estate in Networked Societies

William H. DuttonProfessor of Internet StudiesOxford Internet Institute (OII)

University of Oxford

Presentation for the ‘Colloque villes et territoires numériques’, Paris, 6-7 February 2012.

Press since the 18th Century - the ‘Fourth Estate’

Internet in the 21st - enabling a Fifth Estate

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The Fifth Estate

Enabling people to network with other individuals and with information, services and technical resources in ways that support social accountability in business and industry, government, politics, and the media.

“[Edmund] Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more prominent far than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or witty saying; it is a literal fact – very momentous to us in these times.”

Thomas Carlyle (1831), Heroes and Hero-Worship, at www.gutenberg.org.etext/1091

The Fourth Estate

Feudal Estates into the 21st Century

Estates Feudal Modern

Clergy Public Intellectuals

Nobility Business, Industry and Economic Elites

Commons Government and Politicians

‘4th Estate’ Press Journalists and the Mass Media

Mob Civil Society, Networked Individuals, Mobs

• 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011• Cross-sectional Surveys versus Panels• Multi-Stage Probability Sample • England, Scotland & Wales

• Respondents: 14 years and older

• Face-to-face Interviews, High Response Rates

• Sponsorship for 2011 from the Nominet Trust, British Library, Ofcom, O2, and ITV.com

• Component of World Internet Project (WIP)

Oxford Internet Surveys

9

10

Pattern of Findings Supporting Rise of Networked Individuals

Networked Institutions, such as in e-Health

Networked Individuals:

going to the Internet for health and medical information

networking patients, e.g., UK Children With Diabetes Advocacy Group (500 Families)

networking physicians, e.g., Sermo

Networked Institutions v Networked Individuals

Sermo: a Collaborative Network Organisation

• The Performance of Distributed Problem-Solving Networks (DPSN), McKinsey Technology Initiative (MTI) and the Oxford Internet Institute (2007-8)http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/project.cfm?id=45

• The Oxford e-Social Science Project (OeSS), Economic and Social Research Council (2005-12)

• The Fifth Estate Project, supported by the OII, Oxford Internet Surveys (2003-2012), and June Klein, Electronic Boardroom™

Research on Collaborative Networks

Case study

• News aggregators

• Sermo

• Seriosity

• Information markets

• Atlas

• ASOA

• Firefox development

• Simple Wikipedia

Source: OII

Case Studies of ‘Distributed Problem Solving Networks’

What is it about?

• Different paradigms to find, rate, and prioritize news available online

• Physicians sharing medical information

• Use of multi-player game features to help prioritize use of e-mail and attention foci

• Aggregating judgments to predict public and private events

• Designing and building a high energy physics (HEP) experiment

• Financing and creating an Open Content Feature Film

• Making an Open Source web browser “Mom-and-Dad” friendly

• Improve readability of Wikipedia

• Wisdom of Crowds?

• Reconfiguring Access: Networked Individuals v. Networked Institutions

• Well Managed ‘Networked Individuals’

• Wisdom of Managing Networked Individuals: e.g. managing access, modularization of tasks, …

Collaborative Network Organizations

Networked Institutions v Networked Individuals of the Fifth Estate

Arenas: Networked Institutions

Networked Individuals

News Online journalism, BBC Online, Live Micro-Blogging

Citizen Journalists, Bloggers, Netizens Posting Videos

Democracy E-Democracy, E-Consultation, e-Voting

Obama campaign, Networking the Pro-Democracy Protests

Education Online Learning, Multimedia Classrooms

Backchannels, informal learning

Health and Medical NHS Direct, e-mailing safety alerts

Going to the Internet for health information, Sermo

“Wael Ghonim, a 30-year-old executive from Google, was the administrator of an anti-torture page on Facebook, the social networking website, that is widely credited with organising the first day of protest [in Egypt] on January 25.”

Jon Swaine, The Telegraph, 11 Feb 2011

The Fifth Estate?

England Riots & Cleanup

Centrality of the Internet, Trust in Government and Attitudes toward Internet Regulation over Time

OxIS 2003: N=2,029; OxIS 2005: N=2,185; OxIS 2007 N=2,350. OxIS 2009: N=2,013

OxIS 2003: N=2,029; OxIS 2005: N=2,185; OxIS 2007 N=2,350. OxIS 2009: N=2,013

Networked Institutions: greater ubiquity, universal access

Networked Individuals of the Fifth Estate: require a critical mass, not universal access

Networked Institutions v Networked Individuals of the Fifth Estate

Regions as Percentage of the Worldwide Population of Users

18th Century Estates: 21st Century Enemies

18th Century Estates

21st Century: Enemies of the

5th Estate

Attacks

Clergy Public Intellectuals ‘Culture of Amateurism’, individualist consumerism

Nobility Business, Industry and Economic Elites

Vertical Integration; Monopoly over Search; Three Strikes

Commons Government and Regulatory Agencies

Filtering; Content Regulation; Identification; Surveillance; Disconnection

Press Journalists and the Mass Media

Co-opting, Imitating, Competing, and Supporting

Mob Spammers, Fraudsters, Cyberstalkers, Rioters…

Undermining Trust and Confidence; Fostering Regulation of Content, Attacks on Anonymity

• The Internet is:• NOT ushering point & click democracy, but• Empowering Networked Individuals• Enabling Collaborative Network Organisations• Both Support the Rise of a 5th Estate

• Enhancing Accountability of Government, Business and Industry, the Press, Civil Society, and Institutions in Every Sector

• Not a Utopian Future, but a Literal Fact, Based on Empirical Evidence

Internet and Democratic Accountability

The Rise of the Fifth Estate in Networked Societies

William H. DuttonProfessor of Internet StudiesOxford Internet Institute (OII)

University of Oxford

Presentation for the ‘Colloque villes et territoires numériques’, Paris, 6-7 February 2012.