"There is an emerging need for all sectors of society to find ways to optimize the opportunities which information and communications technologies present. Research and development work in Information Systems and information technology has accepted a model of computing where the individual interacts directly with the computer and, through the computer and communication systems, with other individuals. Thus the objective of IT research and development has been to continuously enhance and extend the capabilities of individuals within the context of the corporations, organizations, and governments for which they work. However, IT also can be used to support communities in their efforts for social and economic development. Community informatics is a technology strategy or discipline which links economic and social development efforts at the community level with emerging opportunities in such areas as electronic commerce, community and civic networks and telecentres, electronic democracy and on-line participation, self-help and virtual health communities, advocacy, cultural enhancement, and others".
Michael Gurstein.
Technical University of British Columbia.
As we read these very words, the world is going through continuous technological advancement; internet is rapidly changing the face of society and its many aspects. Corporate America has undergone rapid transformation in the space of .
merely five to ten years; from scarcely a million users of the Internet in 1990, the current estimate is 125 million users and growing exponentially. The world is still experiencing the impact of the dotcom culture despite the breakdown in the late 1990's. Computers grew out of the need to quantify objects, as societies became more complex, so did their counting tools. There are various aspects of the information technology that need to be analyzed in order to be familiar with its impact on the society.
Computer Mediated Communication.