New Media: The Same Book with a Different Cover
The absolute dominance of social media networks led by everyday people like you and me is a crushing defeat for former power holders inhabiting traditional media methods — except, I just liked a funny tweet from Wendy’s…
Okay, let’s take it back to the mid 2000s. Now you may be thinking about low-rise jeans and American Idol, but do you remember that cool thing called MySpace? Around this time, diverse social media platforms were rapidly gaining both popularity and users. I remember when I first created my Facebook account and made a post to my “wall,” feeling empowered in my own, unique space away from parental and otherwise “grown-up” influences.
However, at the same time that I was posting about Zac Efron being dreamy, Facebook was already making deals with mainstream news providers and advertisers. In 2006, Manuel Castells wrote about this period of transition called for by the birth of “mass self-communication” networks, which describes back and forth communication over the internet and mobile networks, as opposed to “mass communication” methods like newspapers, TV, and radio. According to him, this form of self-communication is a major advantage to both social movements and individuals seeking to change the power structures present in traditional media on their own terms.
It’s true that internet users clearly have the freedom to search out information as they please across millions of blogs, wikis, and social media posts, and they can interact with like-minded individuals to raise money and support social causes. Yet, these users are not only ordinary citizens self-generating and self-selecting content as Castells initially described.
Instead of quaking in their boots at the threat of new media, power actors like businesses and political figures chose to assimilate. You can find Twitter accounts for retail chains, malls, car manufacturers, news companies, senators, and presidents. You’ve probably already been exposed to the snarky interactions between Burger King and Wendy’s, or heard about Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joining streamers popular on Twitch and YouTube to play the hit game Among Us.
So the question remains, has mass self-communication given a louder voice to the people who need it, or has old media harnessed this opportunity themselves by posing among the users?
