Since the dawn of time, information was an essential part of human life. There have been many examples of informational technology designed and engineered by the human race to facilitate the information technology business and give it the importance and influence it has today. The swift development of the effect of technology on the world is the same reason behind the augmentation of the many ways to control the flow of information. Those examples are simultaneously known and used by the majority of the earth’s population.

1. The press

The press is a world that is often used in a very loose manner, which might have created a common misconception around its true meaning. And while most people would call the media and the fourth estate members that control the coverage of the world news as the press. But in reality, the media is a term used to describe all that is written and distributed to the public that has information in it. So writing has been the center of informative behavior in the middle ages, and then the newspapers and news, in general, started to emerge in our lives, and it was at its peak around the 40s until the 80s. But since the creation of the radio and the TV and the internet, the growth of wireless technology meant that newspapers were not needed as much as they used to be. And although papers are available today in stores, their numbers decreased substantially. That said that the means of acquiring and sharing news were reserved for other ways created and agreed upon by the new modern society.

2. The digital information

The age of digitalization became a reality in our time, and through all of the efforts to understand the reason behind the fast growth, there are many elements involved. The simple fact that a 14-year-old today can get his hands on the latest news about the economy and darkest secrets of politicians is enough to illustrate the ease and accessibility that informational technology has become familiar with. On the other hand, the bias of some news outlets that are controlled by tycoons that have political interests, and their use of their media coverage to invoke suspicion or denounce individual facts that can be harmful to their brand. That reason alone was enough to spark an interest in a new and independent source of information, one that is reliable enough not to alter the truth to chase a plan set for the higher bidder. And that is how WikiLeaks came to be in the summer of 2006, under the supervision of hacker and former programmer Julian Assange. It is a non-profit media outlet that publishes leaks and source files of various hidden agendas made by the most influential people in the world. This would later be named the fifth estate, as it surpassed the media in giving total freedom and immunity for whistle-blowers and people who need the ultimate truth. That, paired with the ability to log on freely and frequently through the internet and the smart technology that is available for anyone with a budget today. That is a distinct hint at the future of information technology and the direction it is going to take.Other types of digital informational technology include video form and steaming services. Streaming became the trend of the recent development in wireless technology, and the streams of various purposes and minimal effort put into them can achieve just as much success as huge media tycoons. People are starting to ditch the traditional way of storing information and trusting the cloud services to do it for them. The same thing in music and movies, smartphone apps such as Spotify or Netflix did not have this much influence on popular culture and the world as a whole before the last three years.Related: The impact of technology on our lives

3. Informational technology and politics

It is safe to say that possessing a media outlet or even having a platform to speak from is a vital component of changing people’s opinions about certain aspects of their lives. There was a time where ideas would flow from the news to the spectators to be embraced and acted upon in elections and other decisive occasions. But as of recent, that cycle turned into mass misinformation, where the news flows to opinion leaders that influence the public to pick an opinion that may not be theirs. The growing contrast between forming an opinion based on facts and the choice of sharing the same conclusion as everyone else is the deciding factor between waking up and a follower. That does not mean that there are no fair media outlets in the world, it just means that picking the right source of information and information technology as well as filtering the complete from the incomplete fact is just as crucial as ever, especially when it comes to an important decision to make such as selecting the right candidate to lead the country.It also goes without saying that terrorizing and conspiracy theorizing Is the best way to gain consumers and spectators, and the media is aware of that. Which is the reason why information today is filled with horrible pictures and only bad news to contrast the good ones? The existence of information devices in pocket size and home services makes it easier to be susceptible to many negative thoughts, so using informational technology wisely is advised.

Originally published on Live Positively.