Question

Match the invention of the internet and the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries with changes caused by each invention. Some types of changes may have been sparked by both inventions.

internet:
printing press:

distribution of both valid information and misleading disinformation

generation of massive data about individual consumer identity and behavior

creation of a new type of “public”

Answer 1

distribution of both valid information and misleading disinformation — both
- The printing press massively expanded access to books, pamphlets and news, which spread new knowledge but also rumors and propaganda (e.g., polemical tracts during the Reformation). The internet similarly amplifies both accurate information and misinformation, but at far greater speed and scale.

generation of massive data about individual consumer identity and behavior — internet
- Digital platforms collect detailed, trackable data on users’ searches, clicks, purchases and social activity, enabling targeted advertising and profiling. The printing press did not enable this kind of individualized, real-time data collection.

creation of a new type of “public” — both
- The printing press helped produce a print-based public sphere (literate, geographically dispersed readers who could discuss politics and culture). The internet has created new, networked publics (online communities, social-media publics) with different dynamics of participation, scale and speed.