CMNS 353 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Information Superhighway, Spreadability, Virtual Reality
24 Apr 2017
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Gustave lebon - the crowd: a study of the popular mind (1895) Impulsiveness, irritability, incapacity to reason, the absence of judgement of the critical spirit, the exaggerations of sentiments, and others : re ects the views of women at the time. Type of mass hysteria - la folle : anonymity reduce perceived consequences, contagion spreading of ideas, suggestibility encourage people to behave homogeneously. Crowds can be unstable and chaotic but are often necessary. People behave according to which their neighbours behave. Differentiation between the crowd and the public: the public group of people gathering around a particular media form (i. e. radio); a logical, rational extension of how people would behave. Size of the group can allow elevation of status: the way that society functions requires us to be part of the larger groups. Smaller groups can allow us to maintain our individuality. Facebook: giving up aspects of individuality to become part of the group.
