Social Activism and the Media PART ONE - Mediated vs direct access societies

In Modern Social Imaginaries, the author talks about Benedict Anderson's very insightful discussion on the nature of the modern society. He stresses that society is a simultaneous happening of events which as a whole, make up the system in which all the members inside of it live out their lives. He insists that in this model time is exclusively secular, and does not consist of periods of higher time. In other words, in our modern horizontal society all time is valued equally and it is unrelated to any "high points", where seemingly ordinary events would be seen as greatly significant or particularly pious. In past times, such "high points" would have been mediated by kings or high priests and would have been held with the highest reverence. The ancient Aztecs give us a good example of a "high point" in time* (see bottom of page).

However in the modern direct access society, we have instantaneous access to information thereby making society transparent and horizontal. There is no obvious centre, unlike the Kings of old. It is crucial to take a decentralized perspective when thinking about the modern society. In ancient regimes such as that of France, there was always a central figure, the king, who would act as a central node which binded the society together beneath it. The king would also act as a connection to the divine or "high time".

Our society is quite the opposite where each one of us is equidistant to the centre and are immediate to the whole. This is what is known as a direct access society. We have moved from a vertical world of hierarchies where information is mediated through a central apex, to a horizontal direct access society where power lies within the individual. The rise of the individual has led to a rise in human rights, education, self awareness, entrepreneurialism, etc. Rather than being simply a cog in the system, we each feel like we have a purpose and endless possibilities before us...or do we?

Come back next week for part two of this tantalizing exploration into the nature of our modern society and its' relation to the media.



*The Aztecs of 15th century Mexico had a way of dealing with the problem of the leap year. There was a period of four or five days in between the end of the year and the beginning of the next year which was to be treated with the utmost solemnity. The Aztecs believed that it was during this time that the Gods would deliberate the future of humankind and if they were deemed unacceptable, would be struck down. Time became incredibly more significant and the people would look to their Reverend Speaker who was essentially a king and religious symbol.