BASICS OF NEW MEDIA

UNIT 1 NOTES
1. Online Communication: Meaning, Definition and Evolution from Web 1.0 to 3.0
2. Communication Technology and society
3. Attributes of online communication
4. Video Conferencing, Webcasting and Podcast?

NEW MEDIA
What is New Media? Definition and Tools

The "new media" as interactive forms of communication that use the Internet, including
podcasts, RSS feeds, social networks, text messaging, blogs, wikis, virtual worlds and more!

New media makes it possible for anyone to create, modify, and share content and share it
with others, using relatively simple tools that are often free or inexpensive. New media
requires a computer or mobile device with Internet access.

New media tools can help you (3C’s of New Media):

● CONNECT people with information and services. This includes connecting individuals
with healthcare providers and people living with HIV with one another. New media can
also connect the families, friends, and caregivers of people living with HIV ands AIDS to
resources for their loved ones and themselves.
● COLLABORATE with other people-including those within your organization or
community.
● CREATE new content, services, communities, and channels of communication that help
you deliver information and services.

(HIV and AIDS are examples to explain the topic)

ONLINE COMMUNICATION
The term “online communication” refers to reading, writing and communication via
networked computers. It encompasses synchronous computer-mediated communication
(whereby people communicate in real time via chat or discussion software, with all
participants at their computers at the same time); asynchronous computer-mediated
communication (whereby people communicate in a delayed fashion by computer, using
programs such as e-mail); and the reading and writing of online documents via the World
Wide Web.

MEANING
Online communication is the type of communication among people or businesses that takes
with the help of the internet. This can be sending a message, sharing information, doing
virtual conversation, transferring money, connecting someone, and many others through
digital tools or mediums.
Thus, any type of communication that involves the use of the internet can be called online
communications. Currently, online communication is has become as pivotal as any of the
traditional communication methods.

DEFINIATION
Online communication is defined as computer-mediated communication (CMC) process
occurring via the internet or digital mediums. With the emergence of the digital world, more
people are utilizing the power of online communication to avail of its several benefits.

Online communication refers to the ways in which individuals as well

as computers can communicate with each other over a computer network, such as
the Internet.

Online communication is how people communicate, connect, transact to send, retrieve, or

receive information of any kind via the internet using digital media. All the communication
that is carried out via the internet is known as Online communication.

HISTORY OF ONLINE COMMUNICATION

Online communication dates back to late 1960s, when U.S. researchers first developed
protocols that allowed the sending and receiving of messages via computer (Hafner & Lyon,
1996). The ARPANET. launched in 1969 by a handful of research scientists, eventually
evolved into the Internet, bringing together some 200 million people around the world at the
turn of the millennium. Online communication first became possible in educational realms in
the 1980s, following the development and spread of personal computers. The background on
online communication in language teaching and research can be divided into two distinct
periods, marked by the introduction of computer-mediated communication in education in
the mid-1980s and the emergence of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s. Online
communication thus fits especially well with a structured, project-based approach which
allows learners to engage in increasingly complex tasks throughout a course, in collaboration
with partners in the same class or in other locations, and with appropriate scaffolding from
the teacher or from other sources (including online resources). The types of projects which
can be organized are varied, and may incorporate the following elements:
1. Interviews and surveys: Students work in teams to design, conduct, and interpret surveys
or interviews of distant partners on social, cultural, or other issues (see, for example, Ady,
1995; Kendall, 1995)

2. Online research: Students learn to conduct research online to answer questions selected
by the teacher or of to investigate matters of their own choosing (see, for example,
Lixl-Purcell, 1995)

3. Comparative investigations: Students work in teams to investigate social. cultural, or

economic conditions in their locality and to compare the results online (see, for example
Livesy & Tudoreanu, 1995)

4. Simulations: Students work in teams on projects such as a model United Nations,

business simulations, or contests to find the best solution to a real-world problem (see, for
example, Feldman, 1995; Vilmi, 1995)

5. Online publication: Students work in teams to publish online newsletters, magazines, or

documentary reports (Barson & Debski, 1996: Jor, 1995).

FEATURES OF ONLINE COMMUNICATION

1. Write Concisely
Reading on screen is significantly harder than reading from paper - for the time being, at
least. There are some developments of "e-paper" underway (electronically to be written on,
and erasable). But it will take some more years until they are commercially available. Till
then the writer should take some pains to save any word that's dispensable.
2. Text should be highly structured
When writing on paper, you can rely on that your reader will be able to look back several
paragraphs.
A good method to structure a subject and write concisely at the same time, is writing in a list:
● Think about your subject in terms of relevant points
● Write down each point as a separate line in a list
● If you remember that a point was mentioned already in another document, don’t repeat it
here. Instead, provide a link to it there.
3. Titles / File Names should be Meaningful
Of course, on paper your titles and file names should also be "telling" what to expect from
the following texts. But there, it's not that strict: in case of doubt, the reader can always look
up the text.
On screen, however, there is not much text that can be seen immediately, without scrolling.
Moreover, it's harder to read it. Therefore, the readers will pretty soon prefer those authors
who can given them a good idea of what can be expected from the following text (and to
scroll ahead) - over those who can spout only a few gags.

4. Careful screen layout needed

On paper there's not very much you can do to polish the face of your text. On screen you can
do much more - and you should make use of it

5. Keep Screen Resolution in Mind

If you are writing a text that's to be printed on paper, you don't have to care about the
resolution of the final print. Whereas on screen, the resolution might make a major
difference:
● If it's low (say, 800 x 600), all the letters of your text will appear large and easy to read.
However, the reader might quickly lose overview. For example, if you are enumerating
the items of a list, your message might go astray if the reader can see only a part of it on
screen.
● If it's high (say, 1200 x 1024), the letters of your text will appear small and hard to read.
Your readers will be tempted to skip long, monotonous sentences. Therefore, you should
use more markups. In extreme cases, your text might be shrinking so small that your text
is simply illegible. No one will ever care about what you have to say, if it's just too small
to be read without aching eyes
ATTRIBUTES OF ONLINE COMMUNICATION

1. Digital:
Online communication uses digital media for distribution of messages. The sender can share
these digital messages with one or n number of recipients over internet.
2. Interactivity:
Online messages are delivered almost instantly and allows the recipient to reply back. So,
there is a high scope for interactive communication between sender and receiver. Therefore,
two-way communication exists rather than one way flow of information like in traditional
mass communication.

3. Speed:
Online communication is the fastest means to interact or share information with others. For
instance, a letter may take days to reach the receiver, but an Email or an instant message on
WhatsApp can convey the message instantly without any delay. Even the latest news also
first comes online and later on is covered by other media.

4. Flexibility:
Online media is accessible 24×7 at any place and through any smart device as long as you
have an internet connection. Therefore, a user has the convenience of getting involved in
discussions or other online activity at their own time.
5. Many to many communications:
Traditional mass media like newspapers and television follow a 'one to many'
communication model wherein media organization disseminate messages to their audiences.
However, online communication has replaced this model with a 'many to many' model. So,
instead of one
source sending out information to masses, each and every individual user of online media
has the power to share information and respond back.

6. Feedback:
Online communication allows users to provide instant feedback to messages received, which
was not easily possible in traditional media. So, one way flow of information replaced by
two-way flow.

7. Levelling:
Reserved or shy people who usually don’t speak up can say as much as they like while
“loud” people are just another voice and can’t interrupt. This phenomenon helps in
democratization of the thoughts, ideas, suggestions and value statements that occurs through
anonymity. In theory, all views should be seen as equal, with their merit tested against the
logic of the argument. However, practically loud voices often dominate the arguments and
logic. But online communication provides equal opportunity for all to put their point. Hence,
leading to an egalitarian communication flow.

8. Documented Communication:
Unlike verbal communication, online conversations are lasting and can be revisited, saved,
taken screenshot of and downloaded.

9. Global reach:
We can interact with people all across the world with just a click of a button. Online
communication tools have shortened distances between people allowing them to interact
anytime and anywhere. Its global reach has also become a tool for social movement, raising
awareness, campaign promotion and lets people form online communities. It has also
provided people with an opportunity to even influence the west.

10.User generated content:

Online platforms like social media, blogs, YouTube and websites have made it possible for
people to create content and post it online. This flexibility of online communication has
democratized the communication process. But on the other hand it has also raised the issue
of credibility, privacy, civility and copyright violation as there's no gatekeeping and people
can directly post anything online.

11.Multimedia usage:
Along with text conversation, online communication facilitates messages in form of images,
videos, animations and sound.

12.Cost effectiveness:
Once internet service is subscribed, online communication turns out to be much more cost
effective than other forms of communication. For instance, it is much cheaper to publish
news and articles online as compared to producing a print hard copy. Similarly, conversing
online or exchanging media over internet with others through emails, social sites and instant
messengers becomes more cost effective.

VIDEO CONFERENCING
Conducting a conference between two or more participants at different sites by using
computer networks to transmit audio and video data is called Video conferencing.
For example, a point-to-point (two-person) video conferencing system works much like a
video telephone network works.

Each participant has a video camera. microphone, and speakers mounted on his or her
computer. As the two participants speak to one another, their voices are carried over the
network and delivered to the other's speakers, and whatever images appear in front of the
video camera appear in a window on the other participant's window.

Communications companies have been dabbling in video conferencing technology since as

early as the late 50s, but it took the advent of broadband internet and affordable web cameras
(late 90s) for video conferencing to really take off. Good bandwidth is necessary for high
fidelity streaming video and voice.

Now there are dozens of software vendor in market dealing with video conferencing
software and number of investors interested in bringing video conferencing in mobile
devices.

Very appealing to the educational and business sectors, video conferencing allows users to
save time and money on travelling and housing costs by bringing people face-to-face
virtually. Many prominent universities have adopted video conferencing as an educational
tool to be used in conjunction with online courses. Business leaders around the world use
video conferencing to keep in touch with important contacts while on the go.

WEBCASTING

Webcasting is the process or action of broadcasting live or pre- recorded video over the
internet. This technology operates in real-time and allows for active conversations among
and between the webcaster and their viewers.

As the name suggests, webcasting is basically broadcasting something over the web. Due to
faster internet speeds in general and advancements in technology, webcasting has become
insanely popular with everyone.

Popular apps like Instagram Live, Facebook Live, and Google Hangouts have made
webcasting, one of the most common forms of communication in the world today. While the
technology behind the concept is not that easy to explain, what it does is basically send video
and audio data in real-time while allowing for two-way communication to take place too.
Basically, everyone has the ability to broadcast anything over the web these days.

Benefits of webcasting:
Webcasting is used by a lot of brands and individuals for a wide range of reasons. For big
companies, conducting a webcast on a niche topic increases their reputation and can propel
into being a thought leader in their industry.

Other than that, webcasts can be used to communicate with your online audiences in a very
engaging manner, which wasn’t possible before. It allows you to maximize brand
opportunities and increase the company’s value by reaching audiences who might be
geographically dispersed.

In a recent study, it was shown that younger generations prefer webcasts and live streaming
video over any other type of content on the internet when it comes to the engaging factor of
the content.

PODCAST

The term Podcast is actually came from “iPod” and “Broadcast”.

Podcasting started as mostly an independent way for individuals to get their message out
there and build a community of people with similar interests.

A podcast is a collection or series of digital audio files that are made available for
downloading or listening via the Internet. Each individual audio recording is known as a
podcast episode.

Podcasts are typically hosted by an individual or individuals who lead a conversation, share
stories, or report the news. The creator of a podcast is known as a podcaster.

The podcast covers mostly real (non-fiction) and sometimes fictional stories that come
together under a new theme each week.

TYPES OF PODCASTS
1. Solo Commentary
2. Panel
3. Non- fiction Narrative story telling
4. Fiction story telling
5. Hybrid= Solo + Panel \ Host + Participant
6. Repurposed content

SOLO COMMENTARY
This podcast format is fairly common. It’s used by people who have a specific kind of
expertise they want to share. There isn’t much fanfare or setup. You simply talk into a
microphone. Many new podcasters start with this format because it’s so simple. All you
need to get started is a microphone and some free editing software.

PROS
● You don’t have to rely on anyone’s help or involvement. Everything happens on your own
schedule and at your own pace.
● Your audience comes to know you intimately. This is powerful for brand building.
● Editing one voice is much easier that editing multiple tracks.
● If you don’t like how you said something, you can simply say it again and cut out the bad
bits.
CONS
● It’s a lot of talking. Speaking for 30 to 45 minutes is tiring. And that’s only if you record
it perfectly the first time. Realistically, you’ll talk for an hour or more for each episode.
● You don’t have anyone to bounce ideas off (unless you have a partner or team behind the
scenes) or help you promote.
● If you’re nervous behind the mic, you may need to practice a bit before recording for your
first episode.

PANEL
A panel podcast is similar to an interview podcast, but with more people. Each episode has a
single host and a group of guests. For your listener, it feels like overhearing an organic
conversation between friends.
PROS
● Each episode is full of unique, interesting opinions and insights.
● There’s almost no pressure on the host because the panel of guests do a majority of the
talking. Some hosts only ask a few questions throughout an entire show and let the guests
most of the talking.
CONS
Filling the panel with guests is a ton of work. You’ll have to coordinate everyone’s schedule.
As a new podcaster, finding even one guest is a challenge.
● You’ll have to work to keep people included (so they aren’t silent for 20 minutes), but
you’ll also have to prevent them from talking over one another.
● Your guests will naturally want to talk about a topic far longer than you want them to.
You’ll have to learn when to cut people off and how to move on seamlessly.
● There are some technical challenges that come with recording audio from multiple
sources.

NON-FICTION NARRATIVE STORY TELLING

Non-fictional stories are podcast episodes about real life events. You might dive into a series
of murders, chronicle an expedition up Mount Everest, or recreate a historical event. You can
tell one story per episode or span your story across an entire series. Or you could simply
report the news.

This is an excellent podcast format for listeners who like to learn more about our world. You
have the opportunity to expose people to new ideas, concepts, and events.

PROS
● This podcast format is highly addictive for people who want to know more about a
specific topic.
● You can splice in other audio elements, like news broadcasts, movie clips, or
environmental sounds to enhance the experience.
● There are unlimited stories to choose from you.

CONS
● It’s hard to stick to a consistent publishing schedule because some episodes take longer
than others to produce.
● You have to know what you’re talking about precisely. Listeners are reluctant to forgive
mistakes of accuracy.
● This is a laborious and time-consuming format, especially when it comes to research.
● This is a challenging podcast format without a big team behind you.

FICTION NARRATIVE STORY TELLING

You can surely take advantage of the podcasts to share your fictional stories with the
audience.

You can recreate a new story of your own or share an existing story with your audience.

Usually, the theatre podcast involves various podcasters, as the storyline may include various
roles that need to be played. However, you can also carry out the solo podcast and deliver a
fictional story.

If you have reached a greater audience base, you can also include sound effects in your
podcast. It is an ideal choice for you if you like delivering fascinating stories.

PROS:
● There is not much competition in the market for fictional podcasts.
● Interesting story plots can be addictive for the audience.
● You can bring your stories to life by giving the required sound effects and voices.
CONS:
● It may require a lot of work and planning to create the required effects and storyline.
● It might be difficult to attract the audience as most of the listeners do not prefer this
format.
● It can be difficult to edit the podcast as there are various plots and storylines.

HYBRID
A hybrid podcast is one of the most preferred podcasts by beginners. If you are not clear
about which podcast format will be the most suitable one for you, you can start by trying all
the formats of the podcasts.
You can also choose hybrid podcasts to gain enough flexibility over your niche. It also gives
you space to experiment with your comfort zone.

PROS:
● You can select a podcast format that you wish as there is no restriction in the podcast
format.
● The hybrid podcast helps you to increase your skills in all the podcast formats and gives
you an edge over others.
● You can keep your audience engaged by increasing the suspense for the next episode.

CONS:
● You can get overwhelmed by the number of topics available to create a podcast.
● Some audiences prefer only a selected niche over a hybrid one.
● If you fail to have interesting topics, you may lose your audience.

REPURPOSED CONTENT

Repurposing content is when you take content that already exists and transform it in a way to
get more value out of it. You might add to it, split it up, or transpose it to a new medium.
Some bloggers simply take existing written content and repurpose it into a podcast for an
audio experience.

For instance, a religious organization may turn their weekly sermon into a downloadable
podcast. A speaker could record and release his lectures. A comedian might publish
recordings from his standup routines.

PROS
● Easy to produce this content because you already have it. You just have to do some
editing to format it like a podcast.
● Since you don’t have to make the content, you don’t need a big budget.
CONS
● Since the content wasn’t originally intended for a podcast, it might not feel quite
right. For instance, a lecturer might ask his audience for a “show of hands,” which
obviously isn’t interactive through a podcast.
● People have other ways of getting the exact same content.

HOW TO SPEAK ON A PODCAST

1. WRITE A SCRIPT AHEAD OF TIME

The best way to nail all of your lines for your show is to have a plan of what you will say
throughout the episode.

2. PLAN YOUR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

3. SLOW DOWN YOUR SPEAKING SPEED

4. USE PAUSES FOR EMPHASIS

3P’s of Podcasting

● Plan

● Produce

● Promote
CHECKLIST

● Plan your Podcast

● Create a podcast brand
● Set your equipment
● Chaos like recording software
● Prepare your Podcast recording
● Record your first episode
● Edited your Podcast recording
● Publish your Podcast show
● Promote and Monetize

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

WEBSITE

Originally, website were purely informational. Before the web was opened to the public,
educational and research institutions and government agencies were able to make
information available to each other via text-only websites. Now that we have the world wide
web, there are more types of websites than you can shake a stick at. Here we will discuss the
basic types, noting that we will not include all and that there are hybrids of all those we will
discuss.

Basic Website Types

1. Personal Websites
2. Photo Sharing Websites
3. Community Building Websites
4. Mobile Device Websites
5. Blogs
6. Informational Websites
7. Online Business Brochure\ Catalog
8. E-commerce Websites
The first two have very little to do with Small Business, so we will speed through them.
Numbers three, four and five can be very helpful to small businesses. The last three (6,7,8)
are essential to small business.

1. Personal Website

Your Internet Service Provider may offer you free serve space for you to create your own
website that might include some family photos and an online diary. Usually these will have a
web address (URL) looking something like this: www.your-isp.com/~your-user-name/. this
type of site is useful for a family, teenagers, grandparents, etc. to stay in touch with each
other. This type is not advisable for a small business because the URL is not search engine
friendly and the limited server capabilities your ISP offer may not be sophisticated enough
for a small business website.

2. Photo Sharing Website

There are web companies likes, Flickr.com, Photosite.com and Google’s Picasa. There
could easily be over a hundred such sites that offer free photo sharing paid for by their online
advertising. Also, many digital camera and photo printers now come with software enabling
mere mortals to create digital photo slide shows and upload them to the web.

3. Community Building Websites

These websites build online communities of people who want to interact with other people
socially or meet people who share their interest. The best-known website of this type is
probably MySpace.com. there is also Facebook.com and a myriad of similar sites.

4. Mobile Device Websites

The use of mobile devices like cellphones, iPhones, etc. will become much more widespread
and prevalent. One problem is that standard websites are difficult to view and take a long
time to download on some of these devices with their small screens and wireless
connections. Websites whose pages are narrower in width and take up less bandwidth work
much better for mobile devices.
5. Blogging Websites
A blog owner will log-on daily, weekly, or whenever and write about whatever is going on in
their lives or business, or they may comment on politics and news. Now anyone, who can
afford a blog can be self published and allow their thoughts to be ready by anyone in the
world who has online access.
6. Informational Websites
Informational websites are unique because it allows visitors to contribute and edit articles.
A major informational site is Wikipedia.org, the online encyclopedia and it is unique.
7. Online Business Brochures/ Catalog
in the days before the internet, we used the print, radio, and television media to spread the
word about our businesses. Now we can cast a large net, reaching literally millions of people
with just one website. With your online brochure or catalog, you can show anyone who
looks for and finds your website, photos and descriptions of your products or services. To
some this may sound like an E-commerce Website, but there are many businesses that deal in
products or services that are not sellable over the web—think hair-stylist, dentist, or day-care
center.
8. E-commerce Websites
Amazon.com and flipkart are the grand E-commerce websites in the world but you have to
be an Amazon to sell your products online. There are millions of small businesses who use
their commerce websites to sell their products over the Internet.

BLOG
A blog originally was a personal website meant to be like a diary or journal. If you are
familiar with Facebook or MySpace, these sites and their user pages are a derivative of
blogs. The word is the shortened version of the word weblog. A person would usually create
a blog as a hobby to share their information and experience on a particular subject. The blogs
are designed to be very easy to add new entries to so the information on blogs is updated
much more frequently than a traditional site.
A blog is an online diary, journal, or editorial expressing the owner’s opinions, thoughts,
experiences and ideas. Blogs can be great tools for increasing the traffic to your Small
Business Website. You may go into your blog once a day or week and update it on what is
happening within your business. Perhaps you are introducing a new product or service. Then
you would place a link in that information to your small business website, or a specific
landing page within the website.
As the blogger add entries to the blog the viewer can add comments to the entries. So, the
blog become an interactive site. If the blog is interesting, it does not take long to create quiet
a following. Blogs have been around for a few years now and have been heavily
commercialized for a business blogging. So, that today as you surf the web you often do not
know if you are looking at a blog website or a traditional ‘html’ website.