The Development of Communication Tools in 2010 and 2011 and their Future

The main purpose of this study is to identify factors and conditions affecting the development of modern communication tools and to study their future based on viewpoints of communication experts. It is focused on the relationship between social events and movements in 2010 and 2011 and development of communication technologies. There are six key questions about factors and conditions influencing the development of communication tools, their extent of importance in affecting the developments, the future of old communication tools, news gate-keeping, the future society and its features, and challenges and opportunities facing human beings. We tried to answer these questions by launching an internet-based survey, plus interviews, and library research. It analyzes the opinions of experts both at home and abroad. One of its findings is that special conditions and technological developments have had greater impact on the developments of communication tools and creation of movements in 2010 and 2011. It seems that developments in technology and communication tools will bring human beings into a new society, possibly called meta-networked, free, pure human-machine society, and virtual space. It is a society which is characterized by convergence of old and new communication tools, a fundamental change in the concept of news gate-keeping, increased participation of sender in information sharing and social changes, and development of virtual communication. With a positive view to this future, which can be called Third Media Age, we can say that prerequisites to this future include long-term planning, improvement in media knowledge and literacy, and synchronizing culture and law with technological developments.