Prepared for the 2012 China New Media Communication Association (CNMCA) Annual Conference, Macao SAR, China, 6-8 Dec 2012.

1. The Internet and
the Rise of a Fifth Estate
William H. Dutton
Oxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
Prepared for the 2012 China New Media Communication Association
(CNMCA) Annual Conference, Macao SAR, China, 6-8 Dec 2012.

2. Reconfiguring Access: Information, People, Services, Technology
Informa(on
• How
you
get
informa(on
• What
you
know
People
• How
you
communicate
• Who
you
know
Services
• How
you
obtain
services
• From
whom,
from
where
• How
you
do
what
you
do
Technology
• What
know-­‐how
you
require

3. Politics and the Internet
 Irrelevant, Ineffectual, Clicktvisim
 Inherently Democratic, Autocratic
 Social Shaped: Reinforcement Politics
 Enhancing the Communicative Power of
Networked Individuals, Enabling a
Fifth Estate

4. Research Foundations
• Oxford Internet Surveys of Britain: 2003, 2005,
2007, 2009, 2011 and World Internet Project (WIP)
• The Global Values Project: OII in collaboration with
INSEAD, comScore, WEF, and ictQATAR
• The Performance of Distributed Problem-Solving
Networks (DPSN) Porject (2007-8)
• 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™

5. 5

6. 6

7. First
Port
of
Call
Collabora(ve
Network
Search
v
Sites
Organiza(ons
Empowering
Networked
Individuals
Trust
Social
Cues
Centrality
Significance

8. Enabling
Networked
Individuals
Enhance
Source
Join
&
Create
Communica(ve
Informa(on
Networks
Power

9. Martha Payne, 9 yr old girl
writes blog for school project
in Scotland: ‘NeverSeconds’
- Produced content: photos &
reviews school lunch in 2012
- Distributed on her blog:
neverseconds.blogspot.com/
- Censored by her institution
(her primary school’s council)
- 8,859,514 pages views
- Fostered debate over the
quality of school lunches
nationwide and worldwide

10. The Fifth Estate
 Press since the 18th Century -
the ‘Fourth Estate’
 Internet in the 21st - enabling a
Fifth Estate
−−
Enabling people to source their own information,
and network with other individuals in ways that
support distributed social accountability in business
and industry, government, politics, and the media.

11. The Fourth Estate
“[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

12. Feudal Estates into the 21st Century
Estates Feudal Modern
Clergy Public Intellectuals
Nobility Business, Industry
and Economic Elites,
including Internet
Industrial Elites
Commons Government and
Politicians
‘4th Estate’ Press Journalists and the
Mass Media
Mob Civil Society,
Networked
Individuals, Mobs

13. Montesquieu’s Tripartite System into
the 21st (US Separation of Powers)
Estates Tripartite Modern US Parallel
Courts Judiciary
Monarch Executive
Parliament Legislative
‘4th Estate’ Press Journalists and the
Mass Media
Mob Civil Society,
Networked
Individuals, Mobs

14. Networked Institutions v 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

15. Arenas: Networked Institutions Networked Individuals
News Online journalism, BBC Netizens, Citizen
Online, Live Micro-Blogging Journalists, Bloggers,
Whistleblowers, Leaks,
Churnalism.org, Hacking
Blacklash
Democracy E-Democracy, E- Obama campaign, Aung
Consultation, e-Voting San Suu Kyi, Arab Springs,
Anti-Bribery Websites
Education Online Learning, Multimedia Backchannels, Informal
Classrooms Learning, Rate My Teacher
Health and Medical NHS Direct, e-mailing Going to the Internet for
safety alerts health information, Sermo

18. Government
and
Regulatory
Business
&
Agencies
Industrial
Press
Elites
AMacks
on
Public
Intellectuals
the
FiNh
Mobs
Estate

19. The Politics of the Fifth Estate
• Empirically
Anchored
Value
• Pluralis(c
Democra(c
Accountability
• Enemies
of
the
5th
Estate
Challenges
• Inappropriate
Models
Driving
Regula(on
• Networked
Individuals
v
New
Ins(tu(ons
Perspec(ve
• Cri(cal
Mass
v
Universal
Access

20. The Internet and
the Rise of a Fifth Estate
William H. Dutton
Oxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
Prepared for the 2012 China New Media Communication Association
(CNMCA) Annual Conference, Macao SAR, China, 6-8 Dec 2012.