Gay Coleen D.

Apayor COMM 10
Convergent Media
As the world of media dives further into the future, changes are expectedly evident with it.
Convergent media is one of the ongoing changes in the world of media. It constitutes the
interacting of the different forms of media into different platforms. As Jenkins (2006) stated, it
should not be seen as the banishment of the old media that we were accustomed with, but rather
as an interaction across various media forms. It is different from the traditional form of media
because of its advancement and wider reach of audience. With traditional media, information may
only be limited to newspaper, television, and radio but in convergence media, other avenues like
the internet could now be used to spread information, reaching more and more audience. It could
as well be considered as a new media mainly because brings a new concept of sharing information
to the public. Indeed, it is derived from the traditional media since they just have performed styles
to elevate it but as how the world gets closer modernization, new types of media are introduced
like the convergent media.
With drastic development over the years, convergent media has now taken up social media
as one of its powerful platforms. Social media is composed of different media outlets for individual
people to interact with other people. Upon thinking the metaphor of David and Goliath, the impact
of convergent media to people can be derived from it. David, for instance, represents the individual
people creating content for entertainment and for their audience. Goliath on the other hand, may
be seen as the large companies who does the same way. Although companies have a wider reach
of audience because of their status, it is not impossible for individual people to reach that level as
well. Many content creators are now being given an exposure to the bigger society through
imparting their craft in creating unique ideas that would satisfy and entertain their audience. In that
particular way, they can successfully be in stardom. As our demand for these type of media content,
many creators would tend to go on with the trends to stay afloat and relevant.
The evolution of communication from orality to literacy and the evolution of media from
traditional media to convergent media are interrelated to each other. Both have the means to convey
ideas and concepts to the betterment of art in the near future. These are also necessary for people
to interact easily with only less hassle, unlike before. As both communication and media are
developing, we can infer that the media production and consumption, and mass communication
would now reach its ultimate availability for everyone. It would connect more and more people as
time goes by. However, this progress would also be affiliated with flaws and problems. One of
which is the spread of false information. With social media being an avenue for people to interact
and gather information, it could be as well weaponized by those who are in power to achieve
objectives that only them can benefit from. Due to this, it would cause a great divide within the
consumers, making people doubt about everything online. The developer of these companies
should then hopefully get this algorithm fixed and consumers should also be wise when
differentiating and contemplating what information they have to believe in.

Reference:
Baran, S.J. (2013). "Chapter Ten: The Internet and the World Wide Web". Introduction
to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.
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