Lingering questions from Chun discussion...

In response to our discussion on the Chun reading last week, one aspect that I would like to remember and come back to is that of morality. The paragraph by Elmer-Dewitt on page 88 got me thinking about some simple ideas that could resolve many of the controversies surrounding pornography on the internet. "Pornography is powerful stuff, and as long as there is demand for it, there will always be a supply" (88).

This particular section talked about the message vs. the medium, and which one is to blame for the spread of porn online. While the Internet has certainly enabled pornography to come into our homes, it is merely following the preceding mediums (printing press, TV, etc) by maximizing how many people it can reach. In other words, the content is naturally following the progression of information access. That said, morality, or in this case, parents teaching/informing their children about pornography seems to be a constant line of defense that the medium can't touch (seemingly). Yes, kids will always be curious, and there will always be parents who won't be concerned about their kids viewing porn, but for those who do care, it seems that installing a sense of morality will, at least in some part, help to curb some of the dangers of online porn. I find it interesting that a human sense of morality could be the answer to technological questions.