Category: history

Tara McPherson on Race and UNIX

Tara McPherson’s essay, The Intertwining of Race and Unix, describes the development of UNIX and the civil rights movement after World War II as connected paths, each reflecting the other in structure, style, even language. She posits that those who study each of these areas need to look at developments in computing from a cultural lens, the same way we could analyze the media content or access. Continue reading Tara McPherson on Race and UNIX

The Evolution of Social Media

What is social media? When we hear that term today, we immediately think of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many others that provide more or less the same functionality: a digital platform for our social interactions. But looking back at the history of those interactions, it’s clear that these platforms did not form from thin air and are instead a natural evolution of communicative practices society has employed for thousands of years. The need to connect has not changed; the methods have, in step with the advances in technology that make it all possible. Continue reading The Evolution of Social Media