New media and …

Key takeaway from class

• New media consist mostly of digital media, which are composed of and/or
designed to read numerical code (such as binary code).
• New media are distinct from old media in that they are less linked to a specific
media platform and are therefore more transferable from device to device. They
are also less bound to a physical object, meaning that information can be stored
electronically rather than needing to be encoded onto a physical object.
• New media are also distinct from old media in that they are more personal and
social. As the line between consumers and producers of media blur in new
media, users gain more freedom to personalize their media experiences.
Additionally, the interactive web of personal media devices also allows people
to stay in touch with each other, collaborate, and share information in ways that
increase the social nature of technology use.
• In news coverage and academic scholarship, you will see several
different terms used when discussing new media. Other terms used
include digital media, online media, social media, and personal media.
For the sake of our discussion, we will subsume all these under the
term new media. The term new media itself has been critiqued by some
for setting up a false dichotomy between new and old. The technology
that made new media possible has been in development for many
years.
• New media, as we are discussing them here, couldn’t exist without the move from
analogue to digital technology, as all the types of new media we will discuss are digitally
based (Siapera, 2012).
• Digital media are composed of and/or are designed to read numerical codes (hence the
root word digit). The most commonly used system of numbers is binary code, which
converts information into a series of 0s and 1s. This shared code system means that any
machine that can decode (read) binary code can make sense of, store, and replay the
information.
• Analogue media are created by encoding information onto a physical object that must
then be paired with another device capable of reading that specific code. So what most
distinguishes analogue media from digital media are their physicality and their need to be
matched with a specific decoding device. In terms of physicality, analogue media are a
combination of mechanical and physical parts, while digital media can be completely
electronic and have no physicality
Example : MP3 music file
• To understand the second distinction between analogue and digital media, we
can look at predigital music and how various types of analogue music had to be
paired with a specific decoding device. To make recordings using old media
technology, grooves were carved into vinyl to make records or changes were
made in the electromagnetic signature of ribbon or tape to make cassette tapes.
• So each of these physical objects must be paired with a specific device, such as
a record player or a cassette deck, to be able to decode and listen to the music.
New media changed how we collect and listen to music. Many people who came
of age in the digital revolution are now so used to having digital music that the
notion of a physical music collection is completely foreign to them. Now music
files are stored electronically and can be played on many different platforms.
• Despite the rapid changes in technology, the multiplatform
compatibility of much of new media paradoxically allows for some
stability. Whereas new technology often made analogue media devices
and products obsolete, the format of much of the new media objects
stays the same even as newer and updated devices with which to
access digital media become available.
• Key to new media is the notion of technological convergence. Most
new media are already digital, and the ongoing digitalization of old
media allows them to circulate freely and be read/accessed/played by
any digital media platform without the need for conversio
To sum up: New media
• refers to on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any
digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative
participation. Another aspect of new media is the real-time generation
of new, unregulated content. Most technologies described as “new
media” are digital, often having characteristics of being manipulated,
networkable, compressible, and interactive
• Examples of new media: Internet, websites, computer multimedia,
video games, CD-ROMS, DVDs, and social media.
To sum up: New media
• New media does not include television programs, feature films,
magazines, books, or paper-based publications – unless they contain
technologies that enable digital interactivity.
• Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, is an example, combining Internet
accessible digital text, images and video with web-links, creative
participation of contributors, interactive feedback of users and
formation of a participant community of editors and donors for the
benefit of non-community readers. Facebook is an example of the
social media model, in which most users are also participants.
New media and social media
• New media includes social networks: forms of software that allow people, groups
and companies to connect and share information such as photographs and text.
Companies such as Facebook, SnapChat and Instagram are all forms of social
networks.
• https://about.fb.com/news/

• There are also virtual communities. These networks of individuals who share
information across an online community. The individuals in the community may
share similar interests or goals, such as an online gaming community or followers
of a particular blog. Such communities may well be hosted on a social networking
platform (for example, it might be in the form of a Facebook group).
Social media
• refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share,
and exchange information, ideas and user-generated content in virtual
communities and networks. Social media depends on mobile and web-based
technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals
and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated
content.
• It introduces substantial and pervasive changes to communication between
organizations, communities and individuals.
• Social media differs from traditional/industrial media in many aspects such
as quality, reach, frequency, usability, immediacy and permanence. Internet
users continue to spend more time with social media sites than any other type
of site
• Social media are a group of Internet-based applications that builds on
the ideological and technological foundations of Web and that allows
for the creation and exchange of user-generated contents (Kaplan&
Haenlein,2009 ). Furthermore, social media refer to:
• activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who
gather online to share information, knowledge,and opinions using
conversational media. Conversational media are web-based
applications that make it possible to create and easily transmit content
in the form of words, pictures, videos, and audios (Safko &
Brake,2009)
• Terms that are often used interchangeably with social media are “social
network site” and “social network.” (boyd and Ellison (2009) defined social
network sites as Web-based services that allow individuals construct a
public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of
other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their
list of connections as well asthose made by others within the system.
• The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site
(boyd & Ellison, 2009). According to this definition, Facebook, Twitter for
example, are social network sites because they provide public profiles, make
users’ connections visible, and pass them through the system.
• Social media and social network sites describe similar online environments and often
refer to the same digital technologies and applications. However, they define precise
boundaries of research interests.The focus on social network sites is on connecting
users, that is, attention on the network, whereas the focus of social media is on how
users interact, that is, attention on users’ behaviors.
• Although both social network sites and social media connect users, the latter take
this connection a step further and use this connection to create channels of
communication and information for establishing relationships among individuals and
organizations. Another important point of differentiation is between social
networksand social network sites. Social networks are not necessarily digital, nor do
casual and imprecise uses ofthese terms help scholars to explain human groupings
(in-group, out-group). Social network sites stress the place, that is, the environment
where such relationships among people occur, for example, the Web environment.
• Social media can also be classified according to their scope. They can
be assembled into five major groups:

• Informational social media, such as

• Tripadviser , in which the scope of joining such communities is to
discover answers to problems, issues, or concerns. Typically, people
seek information on products and services and the opinions of those
who have used or experienced these products and services.
• Professional social media,
such as
• LinkedIn, Academic.edu, Xing,

• which are intended for those who want to advance their careers, both
by establishing professional links with col-leagues and potential
employers and by providing or asking advice from professional
experts in these communities.
• Educational social media, such as Good Reads,
which are social network sites that have learning scopes, such as to improve or practice a foreign language, to
learn new cooking recipes, and to discuss and share opinions on books.
Entrainment social media,
• which are those social media that are centered on a passion, for example, music, movies,games, or any other
hobby or interest. People who join entertainment social media are lookingfor advice, but also like to
communicate with people who have similar interests.

Personal social media,

• such as Facebook, which are social media that focus on family, social, and religious relations. People who
join these networks are interested in knowing other people, developing “virtual” relationships, or remaining
in touch with longtime friends, family, and religious communities.