进入元宇宙

元宇宙改变了人们参与和看待世界的方式。但因为目前技术存在局限,达到一个真正的元宇宙仍需要大量的资本投入和科技进步。同时,元宇宙能通过创造全新的空间,扩展企业的商品化和空间化行为,这使得企业纷纷看好元宇宙的未来,通过不同的赛道加入到竞争中来。但是,企业往往通过兜售乌托邦理念和制造数字崇拜来掩饰其危害。事实上,元宇宙缺少监管机构,存在诸多与现实世界相同的社会问题,缺乏对用户隐私的保护,其硬件需求也会对自然环境造成破坏。因此,政策研究者需要严肃地对待其缺陷,设立详细的法律法规,在元宇宙中创造真正的公共空间。

After the Internet： New Technologies, Social Issues, and Public Policies

This article addresses the evolution of the Internet from a loosely organized, decentralized, and pluralistic system to the Next Internet, a tightly controlled, centralized and commodified system under corporate and government control. Drawing on a political economy perspective, it begins by addressing the technologies that comprise the Next Internet. These include Cloud Computing, Big Data Analytics, and the Internet of Things whose convergence raises significant issues in the political economy of communication and society. The paper concentrates specifically on military, environmental, economic, privacy, and labor problems. It concludes by considering the significance of viewing the Next Internet as a public utility like electricity and water.

新自由主义与下一代互联网

“下一代互联网”伴随新自由主义全球化的浪潮应运而生,在市场化的推波助澜下迅猛发展,跨时代的变革正悄然发生。在云计算、大数据分析和物联网融合的推动下,下一代互联网的发展标志着“后互联网”世界中本体论的转变。与此同时,诸多问题接踵而至:全球产权高度集中、环境问题持续恶化、数据安全危机四伏、人力劳动岌岌可危。文章梳理传播新科技发展的关键要素与新自由主义影响下的社会隐患,力图透过数字媒体这一棱镜挑战新自由主义世界秩序。