Commodification of Knowledge Communication Mediums: From Library to Social Media

Abstract

Should Shera and Eagan who whose social epistemology phenomenon for the first time in Librarianship literature, happen to still have chance to continue their studies today, they would, beyond doubt, find social media as a topic worthy of study. Shera and Eagan emphasized the role of bibliographic tools as tools for intellectual sharing of information as well as the need for scrutinizing their social effects. We observe the printed communication sources which drew attention and were very effective in creation and intellectual sharing of information by the beginning of 20th Century, have nowadays been replaced by social media. Thanks to richness of second generation information technologies (Web 2.0), creation and sharing of the information take place at a faster pace and in a much more participative scale. On the other hand, free and unchecked interaction of the information, paved the road for emergence of ‘disinformation’, ‘misinformation’, ‘uncontrolled information’ and ‘manipulated information’. While, on one hand, use of information and knowledge is encouraged, on the other hand, both these phenomena became fully integrated into consumerist culture by transforming into a commodity, which is easily consumed by the society. In this paper this current situation shall be debated and a descriptive analysis shall be made.