Contemplating studying media? This handy text will tell you everything you need to know! Beginning with the definition and history of media studies, this book delves into exciting subjects like the political economy of mass media, digitalization, AI, filter bubbles, misinformation and much more. Reading this text, you will encounter:- Real case studies, from a day in the life of a journalist, to global media conglomerates- An exploration of key themes like race and gender in...

This volume contains an Open Access ChapterOffering a comprehensive and research-oriented survey of the emergence of virtual reality (VR) into the gaming mainstream, Virtual Reality Gaming delves into the complexities of VR gaming, emphasising immersion, embodiment, and player presence.As the first study to critically assess and systematically investigate the phenomenon of VR Gaming through the tripartite lens of embodiment, presence, and immersion...

While the metaverse is often marketed as a future utopia, the vision of the metaverse represents an attempt for private corporations to control the code of the real. In the hands of companies that established and maintain the surveillance capitalism model, the ability to build a persistent, all-compassing environment means all activity in that world can be metricized and commodified, making the metaverse worthy of critical examination.Significant parts of life are already conducted...

Intergenerational Locative Play: Augmenting Family examines the social, spatial and physical impact of the hybrid reality game (HRG) Pokémon Go on the relationship between parents and their children.The ubiquity of digital media correlates with a mounting body of work that considers the part digital technologies, such as video games, play in the lives of children. Consequently, commentators have deliberated the effects of rising levels of screen time and the association of...

This book uses an international perspective and draws on a wide range of new conceptual and empirical material to examine the sources of conflict and cooperation within the different landscapes of knowledge that are driving contemporary urban change. Based on the premise that historically established systems of regulation and control are being subject to unprecedented pressures, scholars critically reflect on the changing role of planning and governance in sustainable urban development, lo...

In this short book, Evans interrogates the implications of VR’s re-emergence into the media mainstream, critiquing the notion of a VR revolution by analysing the development and ownership of VR companies while also exploring the possibilities of immersion in VR and the importance of immersion in the interest and ownership of VR enterprises. He assesses how the ideologies and desires of both computer programmers and major Silicon Valley industries may influence how VR worlds are conceived a...

This book extends current understandings of the effects of using locative social media on spatiality, the experience of time and identity. This is a pertinent and timely topic given the increase in opportunities people now have to explicitly and implicitly share their location through digital and mobile technologies. There is a growing body of research on locative media, much of this literature has concentrated on spatial issues. Research here has explored how locative media and location-b...

In cities around the world, digital technologies are utilized to manage city services and infrastructures, to govern urban life, to solve urban issues and to drive local and regional economies. While "smart city" advocates are keen to promote the benefits of smart urbanism – increased efficiency, sustainability, resilience, competitiveness, safety and security – critics point to the negative effects, such as the production of technocratic governance, the corporatization of urban services, ...

Succeeding with your Master's Dissertation is a step-by - step guide to completing your Master's dissertation.

The Internet is now an integral part of contemporary life, and linguists are increasingly studying its influence on language. In this student-friendly guidebook, leading language authority Professor David Crystal follows on from his landmark bestseller Language and the Internet and presents the area as a new field: Internet linguistics.In his engaging trademark style, Crystal addresses the online linguistic issues that affect us on a daily basis, incorporating real-life ex...

Assuming no knowledge of linguistics, Understanding Digital Literacies provides an accessible and timely introduction to new media literacies. It supplies readers with the theoretical and analytical tools with which to explore the linguistic and social impact of a host of new digital literacy practices. Each chapter in the volume covers a different topic, presenting an overview of the major concepts, issues, problems and debates surrounding the topic, while also encouraging studen...

"This is a must-read for every student, lecturer and professor. It establishes Internet Studies as essential to an understanding of how learners and educators can capture the value of our networked world."Professor William H. Dutton, Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, University of OxfordIn E-learning Theory and Practice the authors set out different perspectives on e-learning. The book deals with the social implications of e-learning, its transformative effects, an...