The New Persuasive Medium

Advertising, Promotion and Propaganda on the World Wide Web

The Context

Tim Berners Lee had no idea that he was going to create a new medium when, in 1991 he designed a cross platform set of data sharing computer protocols. The HyperText Transfer Protocol (http) allows users to easily navigate through the internet by pointing and clicking a mouse through a graphical user interface (GUI) which we now know as browsers such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Originally intended to allow research scientists to use the internet to share data easily facilitating collaboration across geographic boundaries, the world wide web is the fastest growing medium of all time showing an annual growth rate of 341,634% in 1993. (Zakon, 1999) This incredible growth not only surprised those at CERN but also the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and just about anybody else who observed media or developments in computer technology. A brief timeline of the internet and links to more elaborate chronicles is included in Appendix One.

The internet had its very early roots in the military realm and grew to a world phenomenon through the academic world. By far the largest area of recent growth in the internet has been in the commercial sector. According to domainstats.com, of the over 7.7 million domains (websites) in the world over 4.7 of them are now commerical sites. Some, like General Electric Chairman Jack Welch, liken the growth of the internet to the industrial revolution. (Criticism.com News Briefs)

This paper is intended to examine some of the issues of this new pervasive medium including the unique advertising and promotional methods available to its users. Of particular interest is how these advertisements target younger people especially those of high school age.
Webvertising, using the world wide web to promote a product, person or ideology is largely, but not strictly the domain of businesses. We will see how all sorts of interests are promoted on the web.

The Web as a Medium

The web was designed as an information sharing (academic?) medium but now exists as a multi-mode entertainment medium providing games, music CD's and MP3's, movie and video promotional sites, and places where aspiring authors can post their work. Any and all of these types of sites and the media they contain, provide "societal learning" (Cortes, p148). The web as the most dynamic medium by far, is a case study in the evolution of media. Computer networks mean different things to different people. Some see the web as another megalithic component of mass media, while others see it as a democratizing force for media equity. There is a tremendous potential for the web to generate equity in our society as there hasn't been a development of any parallel to television (King ) or radio networks or channels which facilitate the type of top-down broadcasting (Roberts, p635) that has given mass media its power in the second half of this century. While the web is not a truly bottom-up medium, it does allow for a much freer flow of information than other media forms which are temporally or physically restrained. The web is non hierarchical and nonlinear (King) where every point is a gateway to the entire network, thus it is the first true post-modern medium (Sanes). Also in support of the post-modern nature of the web are Goldman and Papson who speak of the surficial nature of the post modern (p62). While you may speak of moving up or down levels within a site, all motion is lateral. New images appear on the same two dimensional screen, there is no real movement.

While the web is not a truly bottom-up medium, it does allow for a much freer flow of information than other media forms which are temporally or physically restrained.

The Web (Internet) as a Democratizing Force in Media

The new electronic media have radically altered the way people think, feel and act. (McLuhan in Puffer)

While democracy is the dominant ideology in modern political life, (at least in most of the western world) there is a huge gap between ideology and current practice (Thornton). We are somewhat jaded by the electronic media especially as we have all seen how even significant events are manipulated to provide the maximum televisual impact. Our society is somewhat accustomed to the commercial nature of the medium and accept the competitive aspect of these enterprises and their need for ratings success and audience share. Instead of reporting on politics media are active participants in the process (Thornton) and are therefore automatically suspect.

Marxist commentators are perhaps more cynical. Curran (in Chandler) says "media portrayals of elections constitute dramatized rituals that legitimate the power structure in liberal democracies;... voting is seen as an ideological practice that helps to sustain the myth of representative democracy...
election coverage is perceived as reinforcing political values that are widely shared in Western democracies and are actively endorsed by the education system..."

Ideally, the media should be an impartial observer of all events recording and transferring information. The free flow of information and communication is essential to a democratic society (Kellner, p338). While freedom of the press is enshrined in many constitutional democracies, the intention has been to protect the press from government influence. Special interest (or lobby) groups, especially those of business and industry have snuck in the back door in order to apply media pressure to suit their needs.
In a more perfect world the media would help organizations attract support, assist the realization of common objectives of society through agreement or compromise between conflicting interests (Thornton); or, in simpler terms, facilitate democratic procedures. The world wide web has temendous potential as a medium capable of promoting grassroots democracy. Individuals need to get involved in media, particularly the internet at this level, to make any significant difference. (Kellner, p339)

The web as we know it today is unlike any other medium thus far. Despite its astronomical growth rate and its incredibly dynamic nature
it has relatively universal access. (While we still live in a world where half the population hasn't made a phone call, many governments have spent huge sums to connect schools, libraries and town halls to the net. It is interesting that government is simultaneously moving away from funding libraries' book aquisitions.)
Because of the recent affordability of technologies along with the tremendous amount of internet access provided through workplaces and other institutions, the web has the potential for a tremendous grassroots impact as a new media force in the democratization of our society.

A recent development in Internet access has come about through Internet Service Providers (ISP) entering a very competitive market situation. Some providers are trying to find new customers by providing computers with a long term committment to use that ISP's service (class discussion). As more providers move into the market and more people get online, the results of the competition for customers should prove very interesting for the consumer.

While Kellner believes there is a danger that a megacorporation could control the information superhighway by charging for access (Kellner, p338), it is a widely held belief that no one organization will or would want to have either the control or the responsibility for what is likely the world's largest infrastructure. As yet the internet has no established method of distribution (Thornton), nothing quite analagous to channels has appeared. This is good as it keeps individual members of society involved in the media at the grassroots level where "citizens and activists can readily intervene" (Kellner, p335). Kellner also states that "media activism can significantly enhance democracy" when the "brave new worlds of media culture and technoculture" are integrated (Kellner, p336). While individuals do not have the resources of the mass media, access to the internet allows them to access the world in a unfiltered, uncensored manner. This paper itself is an example of such access since it is available to any point on the internet. Teachers have the ability to post documents to the web and have access all internet services.

Cultural studies, including media literacy have failed to engage the issues of alternative media (the internet/ web/ forums etc). An idea central to media democracy is the need to decommidify computer communication and the information superhighway (Kellner, p33). These are both thought provoking areas for further research.

The Flip Side of Internet Democracy

Some sites are terrifyingly subtle in their language, very few, in fact are overt in their expression of hatred towards a certain group.

All media "can be instruments of domination or liberation, manipulation or social enlightenment" (Kellner, p337) The other, darker side of the democratic coin allows individuals to post sites that some may find offensive. Everybody and anybody can put up a website for relatively little money and effort. Groups including the Ku Klux Klan to The Nation of Islam have sites posted. If we want free speech then we are going to pay for it. While these sites rarely display mainstream commercial advertising, they are very much examples of persuasive media. These sites represent diametrically opposing views but are both offensive to the majority of the public. Depending on your perspective these sites may be considered to represent anything from an icon of free speech to a lobby group to a hate group.

Examination of such sites does not reveal anything innately flawed. They are well designed and constructed, contain large volumes of information comprehensively discussing their respective groups' viewpoints. Some sites are terrifyingly subtle in their language, very few, in fact are overt in their expression of hatred towards a certain group. For an insightful discussion of this topic see
Right-wing Extremist
Activities in Internet.

Propaganda on the internet is an example of McLuhan's Technological Determinism, which can be summarised:

Technologies invariably cause cultural change, ... thus the modes of communication shape human existence (Puffer) or in other words,
we shape out tools and they in turn shape us.

Since we now have created a medium where universal access is readily available to a very large percentage of our society, that medium will now affect and influence our society, both positively and negatively.
Even a brief scan through contemporary media will provide some reflection of society. Everywhere in the traditional media we see references to the new media. The business news is focused on internet technology stocks, parenting media are fixated on Net Nanny, and similar software and education journals are concentrating on technology integration. Few television commercials appear without a web address scrolling across the bottom of the screen, many TV shows, especially news magazines, also boast of their space on their corporate website. This new tool is shaping our media, our economy and in turn our society.

Teacher Uses of the Internet / Web as a Medium

Increasingly teachers are using the world wide web as an information and/or communication resource, as well as a tool for lesson preparation and professional communication (Becker). This is demonstrated by the vast number of web sites dedicated to teachers. Academic Journals as well as resource archives abound. Teachers who use technology in the classroom are more likely to assign work to be completed using the internet (Becker) thereby "creating" more internet users, and subsequently a larger target audience for web based advertizers When teachers teach about the internet, they often do a very good job teaching the technological aspects but neglect the opportunities of cultural media literacy pedagogy. Cultural studies discuss how media and culture can be transferred into instruments of social change to empower individuals (Kellner, p335 -366) (Cortes, p 146) and cultivate citizenship social enlightenment (Kellner, p340).

The most effective use of the net occurs in classrooms with more than four computers connnected to the internet or LAN.

The most effective use of the net occurs in classroom with more than four computers connnected to the internet or LAN. Not suprisingly, connectivity is the most important factor in utilization. Younger teachers with constructivist approaches are more likely to use the internet. (Becker) This demographic, together with the recent heavy promotion of constructivist approaches in education faculties, ensures the educational promotion of the web for the foreseeable future.

Student Use of the Internet

Students mainly use the internet in school as an information gathering tool, for project collaboration online, for electronic commuication with other students, and for web-publishing. (Becker) Adolescents view media including the web, as increasingly important sources of information as the bonds with parents begin to weaken in the teenage years (Roberts, p 631). We do know that media impacts adolescents but the impact should not be seen as uniform.(Roberts, p 632) Many schools offer internet access to students in study rooms, lounges and other areas for recreational web-surfing. Internet cafes and the like are very popular with some students. Teachers and schools are favouring the move to "paperless" courses which rely heavily on the internet. The majority of schools in this country offer some level of computer technology training, with many schools in this province having at least some degree of access to the world wide web.

The web is also a promotional tool for educational institutions, their websites, while providing services to faculty and students, also promote the institution to the world.

Commercial Uses of the Web

N.B. All of the following images have been taken from the web and are used to illustrate the arguments contained in this document, they are not intended to advertise or promote a particular product or service

Like most aspects of the web, the use of the medium as a storefront is growing rapidly. Sites like shopping.com and the "world's largest bookstore" Amazon.com allow you to
buy just about anything over the internet. Business is troubled by the relatively slow growth of e-commerce. It cannot compare to the overall astronomical growth experienced by other aspects of the internet during the early 1990's. Security issues are the usual scapegoat, surveys showing people trust phone and fax ordering much more than internet transfers. (Hermes Project, 1997)
Investments were an area of marked increased sales as are travel purchases. According to a recent MacLeans sidebar article, fewer than one in fifteen Canadians made a purcase over the web in the last quarter of 1998. At least 60% did not have access to the web.
Those who did shop the web were concerned about giving out credit card information.
Other concerns were trust and sharing personal information through the web.
(Macleans, April 5, 1999)
While many people are reticent to order, they find the internet to be an excellent way of researching products before purchase.

Most users are still unwilling to pay for web services as many have access through work, school or public libraries.

Advertising

The dynamic and "plastic" (Barthes in Hoenisch) nature of the web is a natural lend with recent trends in advertising. Campaigns that would last for months if not years, are now refreshed after only a few weeks. Thus we have the merging of hypersignification (Goldman and Papson, p3) with hypertext. The commodity sign is formed at the intersection between a brand name and a meaning system summarised in an image Logos with tremendous recognition achieve the advertising nirvana of transformation language or meaning into myth. (Goldman and Papson, p8)

The web can be interpreted as a "24-7" commercial, the ultimate infomercial. Companies are free to post sites that promote their products using whatever technologies they can muster, text and images, multimedia, animations, sound or video clips, interactive areas etc. The web is a much more interactive medium than its nearest relative, television.

Meaning is not just decoded within one structure but transferred to create another structure of media therefore meaning (Goldman and Papson, p3).
Its ability to go beyond the passive nature of the traditional media into the interactive, where the audience (user) can be truly engaged or some would say manipulated.

In a mature sign economy allusions to previous ad campaigns become rampant ... imagery is fashioned out of bits and pieces of previous signs, ads, movies, videos etc (Goldman and Papson, p7). This movement of language to image refers to the plastic nature of media. This together creates a proliferation of meaning, a self multiplicity of significance which cannot be deciphered except in knowledge. Thus meaning is no longer read immediately.

The post-modern analysis would be that an explanation of media content as an acknowledgement that there are myriad explanations behind any sign or image.

What a great echo of the dynamic nature of cyberspace; click on an image (banner, link, button etc.) today and you will "go to" point A, but click tomorrow and you will "find yourself" somewhere else.

A lot of the power of advertising on the web is related to the concept of intertextuality. Messages and images associated with traditional media are employed by the new media. For example, web ads refer to TV, print etc. (Goldman and Papson, p.69.) The following logos (commodity signs) of Fortune 500 companies were all taken from their resepective corporate websites. They are all familiar to us because of our exposure to traditional media.

Advertisements have the power to redefine meanings especially through the photographic frame(Goldman and Papson, p216). With the image manipulation capacity of the computer the world wide web is taking advantage of its visual nature.

Webvertising

Webvertising companies have been springing up all over the western world since 1994. One web search of the word "webvertising" found over 500 hits! Many traditional advertising companies have gotten into this new field as well.
In some ways webvertising is essentially the same as advertising; that is selling a product by creating a sense of insecurity in the user. Examples of such advertisements refer to such products as retirement planning, how safe minivan A is compared to your old minivan, etc.

The other main concern of webvertising pertains to advertisements "that sell the core being of a product or service within the contextual atmosphere of the medium" (r35.com)(webvertising.com
).
Much of the advertising on the internet is concerned with technologies that are familiar to computer users. Many, but not all, of the people who use the internet are users of several other technologies and thus are a target market for advertizers. The medium is the market! Certain sites offer free email, (Microsoft's Hotmail for example) chats and other internet services as a means of increasing web traffic and, therefore, webvertising power (Plank, 1999).

Banner advertisements (see above) are these slender images often found at the top of commerical (.com) websites that are often animated and always clickable, taking the user to the main advertisement; a specially designed promotional website. (r35.com) Banner displays are consistently found at meta search engine sites such as Mamma or Dogpile. Links from other websites can increase traffic to your site(Plank, 1999). There are several sites that are in business to place banner ads promoting a client's site (and therefore business) on an number of other sites. The most popular of these is Link Exchange.

Pop-up windows are a similar web phenomenon. Often now when loading a particular website, a smaller browser window is spawned containing a single attractive webpage. Clicking anywhere in this window will take the user to a promotional website that is the true advertisement. It is interesting to note that advertizers in cyberspace are free from government or industry regulation (Pasnik). The CRTC has recently backed away from internet regulation in Canada as it still considers the internet to be a text based medium.

Push Technology

Push technology is another fast growing internet and web based technology which allows the user to automtically download information relating to their interests.
Users don't have to spend time searching for information as push technology will download information as it becomes available on previously user defined topics.
(Hines) Perhaps the most familiar push technology is the web based Pointcast system.
Users can subscribe to this free service and keep up-to-date on news in just about any area of interest. High school students can have a desktop "pointcast" on sports, entertainment, movies and pop music.
Pointcast delivers ads suited to the demographics indicated by the news item requests. (Sigmon, et al)
Many users feel that later versions of Windows 95/98 with the integrated Internet Explorer 4.x+ is a push technology woven into the operating system.
This has upset manpeople in the computing community.

While it is not specifically a push technology, cookies are a related concern.
A cookie is a special text file that a web site puts on a user's hard drive so that the web server can remember certain information.
The cookie usually contains information about the user's preferences.
Theyare used by a web site's server to shuffle the banner ads to suite the user's interests. (Whatis.com)

You may wonder how those banner ads on some search engines seem to catch your eye so frequently; the search string from the engine is "read" by the banner provider which then sends the matched banner to your search results page. Clicking on the banner takes the user to a specially designed site dedicated to promoting a product, which you are likely interested in because of the information you keyed into the search engine text box.

Birthday Cards automatically sent to a child via email or conventional mail are facilitated by data tracking. This data is obtained by completing online forms, answering emails or through cookies. Web sites often entice kids with a prize or game to play in order to have them enter personal demographic information which is then stored in a database for analysis. A favourite method of many web sites aimed at children requires them to join a club. In order to join, children have to enter data which is then collected for tracking and eventually, target marketing. Companies attempt to develop brand loyalty in children as young as four years of age. (Pasnik)

Online sites are designed with the intention of leaving the adult out of the loop. Corporations regularly hire psychologists and anthropologists for expertise as to what attracts children in cyberspace and then to exploit that knowledge. (Pasnik)

Deconstructing the WWW

All teachers now need to be web literate as the amount of student access to online information is steadily increasing. There are several good sites on the net designed to help students and teachers evaluate web sites as resources. This sort of critical thinking is very beneficial to the students academic development.
Common themes in these deconstruction guides are:

• accuracy of content, how credible is the information?, who put the site together, is it well referenced?, can the information be verified?
  
• date, how current is the information? when was it last updated?
  
• objectivity, is any bias present?
  
  

A particularly good example of a guide to deconstructing a web site is Esther Grassian's Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources

Conclusion

Are we there yet? Does the WWW bring us closer to McLuhan's Global Village

It appears that we have arrived. (The Marshall McLuhan Center on Global Communications) It seems that this generation (Generation X as Douglas Copeland calls us) is finding McLuhan all over again as the new media ecology evolves. McLuhan's metaphors have new currency, and are surfacing in everything fom U.S. Federal Court to the Economist along with 346 references to him in the Oxford English Dictionary. (Puffer)
The interaction of the latest two generations both of which were media saturated is interesting to observe.

"Baby boomers watch in amazement as the revolutionary impacts of television collide with the effects of the networked medium."

(Thompsen
)

Technological Determinism according to McLuhan says that technologies invariably cause cultural change.

"All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered. The medium is the message. Any understanding of social and cultural change is impossible without a knowledge of the way media work as environments."

-Marshall McLuhan

Technological deteminism is also related to the Marxist (Media) theory of Economism, which implies that mass media "must cater to the needs of advertizers ... or the dominant political institution" (Chandler)

In this brief paper we have seen how the web, the newest mass medium has already begun to shape our culture. Our economy, educational institutions and government organizations are all adjusting, re-shaping even re-tooling as a results of web innovations. People who have been involved in these technologies rarely make predictions about where the web will definitely go next. The degree to which the internet has changed in such a short time defies accurate predictions. We are proving McLuhan to be correct in many cases, our world is now shrinking largely due to recent effects of the internet on global communication. We continue to shape new tools which shape our shrinking world.