New Media

New Media

1. Distinctive characteristics

   • 'Digitalisation'
   • Accessible
     • Media can be shared quickly, easily and often for free
   • Can use one digital device to access lots of different media content
     • Known as convergence
     • Play music
     • Visit news sites
     • Read an e-book
   • User control has increased
     • More power in the hands of the audience
     • Streaming and catch-up gives viewers control over programmes they watch and when
   • More interactivity
     • Audience is directly engaged with the media
     • You can contact a live radio show using FB, twitter, or email
     • Get the red button to vote on reality TV

2. Sociologists disagree about whether new media is revolutionary

   • Cultures, economies and individual personalities are all transformed by new media
     • Attitudes to privacy have changed
     • Common to share personal details on the internet
       • Puts people at risk of losing control over who has access to their identity
   • Cornford and Robins (1999)
     • Disagreed with the idea that the new media is revolutionary
     • Argued that it was evolutionary
       • Evolved from technology that already existed
     • Interactivity isn't exclusive to new media
       • Letter columns in newspapers have allowed people to share their views for years
       • The only characteristic of new media that's entirely new is its speed of communication
   • Some sociologists have studied the evolutionary impact of new media on existing media
     • Boyle and Haynes (2004)
       • Media coverage of sport after the development of mobile phones and 3G internet
       • Phone manufacturers said there would be dramatic, revolutionary changes in football broadcasting and marketing
       • Integration of mobile technology and football media was an evolutionary process
       • Mobile technology offered extra options for viewing football, instead of replacing traditional options

3. Use of new media varies according to age, location and consumer power

   • Young people are the biggest users of new media.
   • 5900 UK citizens had never used the internet
     • only 31 were aged 16-24
   • Older people's use of new media is increasing
     • Over 65s using a smartphone has doubled between 2012-2015

4. People who can't access new media are part of the digital underclass

   • Getting a passport and registering to vote are mainly carried out online
   • Lack of internet access can be a major barrier to accessing these kinds of services
   • People who are in poverty are often excluded from the new media
   • Can't afford to pay for broadband or new media devices
   • They form a digital underclass

5. Curran and Seaton

   • Divided attitudes to New Media into two types
   • Cultural Pessimists
     • New media are mainly controlled by powerful MNC's
     • Increasing globalisation means they have far-reaching influence over consumers
     • New media are controlled by the state
       • Reduces everyone's privacy
     • Consumer benefits of new media come at a social cost
       • Online retailers criticised for avoiding taxes
       • Exploit workers so that they can offer these services without losing profit
     • Freedom of information on the internet
       • Offensive views can be spread
       • misogynistic (based on a dislike of women)
       • Racist
       • Terrorist
       • Material can be easily shared online
   • Neophiliacs
     • Media is a positive force
     • Developing technology leads to increased consumer choice
     • Growth of online shopping means you can shop around for the best deal
     • Companies use global website like FB to advertise their products
       • Consumers can buy products from multiple countries
     • Share more information
       • Makes society more democratic as people are exposed to different views
     • Satellite TV mans views can access TV content from many countries
       • Creates a shared sense of culture

6. Debate about whether New media are democratic

   • New media can be used to break down cultural hegemony
   • Online media plaforms make communication less regulated
     • Create your own media
     • Present your ideas to a global audience
   • Andrew Keen (2007) Cultural pessimist
     • The democratic nature of the internet can harm the quality of media content
     • Media like Wikipedia that are crowd-produced may be more democratic