The New Media

5 min readAug 30, 2017

From www.youtube.com

The Culture of New Media

New media, as described by Socha and Schmid, is “is a 21st Century catchall term used to define all that is related to the internet and the interplay between technology, images and sound.”[1] In fact, the definition of new media changes every day and will continue to do so because it evolves and morphs continuously. New media refers to “those digital media that are interactive, incorporate two-way communication and involve some form of computing”[2] In Robert Logan’s Understanding New Media, he described it as “easily processed, stored, transformed, retrieved, hyperlinked and, perhaps, most radical of all, easily searched for and accessed. Media, according to Gitelman, is defined as “a cultural process that involves not only the actual transmission of information but also the ritualized collocation of senders and recipients.”[3] Thus, new media reflects societal values and societal transformation.

(source: http://www.systemsolutionsdevelopment.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/new-media.jpg)

New media has made communication among people all over the world possible. Now people can interact or communicate with each other anytime and anywhere through different websites, blogs, etc. In Terry Flew’s New Media, he explained how globalization occurs through the result of the evolution of new media technologies.[4]

To be able to examine the culture being presented by the new media, one must be able to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of it.

Advantages

(source: https://thedailybytetwentytwelve.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/cropped-03-social-media-management87773.jpg)

They say that the Internet has changed everything. “Technology is an incredible thing, and the world wide web might arguably be one of the best inventions”[5] because it connects us from all parts of the world. We also get informed easily by just checking updates from twitter or checking news websites. We no longer have to wait for the morning newspaper just to be informed by the latest updates. We can just access anything almost anywhere with a smartphone/tablet/laptop and an internet connection.[6] In new media, there is also no issue of time lack because events or news that occur at a point of time are immediately published through new media such as Twitter, Facebook, or videos in Youtube.[7] Since new media is “highly interactive”, the communication is always two-way; between the publishers and the audiences. This makes new media less biased than traditional media. People now have the “ability to answer back and produce their own media.”[8] The decentralised model makes the “producers consumers, senders receivers, upsetting the logic of the first media age.”[9] It also makes the audience more aware, critical and engaged. People now can voice out their own opinions and stands as well, they can now analyze and criticize the information being sent to them. “It empowers the voice of the individual”[10], because it became easy for one to reach the audience through different social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. It also became a way to unite people through campaigns where people can sign petitions.

Disadvantages

While there are a lot of benefits that the new media has brought, there are also negative impacts of it. First is that people tend to spend a significant amount of time on social media websites/applications such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.[11] We forget to interact and spend quality time with the people around us personally. I’ve experienced this a couple of times during reunion or even during meals. Everyone seems to be busy texting or scrolling through the newsfeed of Facebook or Twitter. It seems like they forgot how to survive without their phones.

(source: https://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi0k_z_5fzVAhUGmpQKHWH9BkkQjBwIBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.datafloq.com%2Fcms%2F2015%2F03%2F19%2Fsocial-media-cartoon.jpg&psig=AFQjCNGdw3_6tzJU5Ik6TE9qEzRSnJg0hg&ust=1504108094886062)

While it is an advantage that news spread easily on the internet, it is also a disadvantage. Why? Because once it’s there, it’s there. It would be very difficult to take it down. It will spread at an uncontrollable rate. This brings me to another disadvantage: Fake news! Since everyone is capable of posting something, rumors can easily be carried out. People tend to believe it even if it’s fake. Some do not even check if the source is credible or not. Some just check the headline and just assume right away. Cyberbullying is also a disadvantage, children and even adults get bullied online and when they cannot take it anymore, they harm themselves.

There is also a question of privacy. Whatever we post online can be stolen or someone might be taking whatever valuable information we put such as credit card details, address, etc.

Subscribe or Disagree?

There is no doubt that new media have made our life easier than we ever imagined. Our society has moved from writing/printing to instant interaction among family, friends, co-workers, etc.[12] It has a “pivotal role in not just informing people, but in influencing their thinking along with shaping their attitudes”.[13]

On the other hand, new media technologies have also created some challenges and made our lives more complicated. We cannot help but to be consumed by these technologies that we have lost interpersonal interaction among people. With the new media coming with so much action, we also constantly change. We want to be instantly gratified, we become impatient.

I can honestly say that I subscribe to this culture. Of course, it has a lot of benefits but negative implications come with it as well. One just has to be able to discipline and control so that one will not be “consumed” by the technologies. There should always be a BALANCE.