Question 2
‘But what’s happening today – the mass
ability to communicate with each other, without having to go through a
traditional intermediary – is truly transformative.’ How is the diminution of
traditional, and often hierarchical, ‘authoritative’ intermediaries changing
the role of publishing in social life? You should choose one broad area of
publishing.
The role
of traditional publishing, in the dissemination of information has undergone a
major shift with the introduction of social media.
Social
media has rapidly gained in popularity over the past few years as public reliance
in traditional media has diminished. Social media is the latest innovative mode
of publishing, reinventing the way people communicate.
Alan
Rusbridger states that “the mass ability to communicate with each other,
without having to go through traditional intermediary – is truly
transformative.” The introduction of social media in particular has transformed
the role of traditional publishing today. Social media outlets such as; Twitter,
Facebook, Vine, Skype, Instagram and YouTube are digital platforms enabling superior
two-way communication and creating a wider activist audience.
The
public sphere is fuelled by publication. It allows the free flow of information
and freedom of speech, which has been enhanced, with the expansion of reach with
digitisation, which has enabled greater accessibility and efficiency. The online
world has broken down geographical barriers and transformed audience
capabilities. Social media allows users instantaneous approval and or disapproval,
utilising functions such as ‘like,’ ‘comment,’ ‘share’ and follow, increasing
‘talk’ and public opinion. This technological advancement is challenging once established
hierarchical social order and created media panics by changing the concepts and
forms of power. The fact that the Internet enables expansive publishing,
traditional authoritative methods of publishing are diminishing in popularity
and impact. Social media goes beyond
local and national scale as online information is easily accessible and
inexpensive and can be viewed on the go, i.e. via mobile, iPad, and laptop enabling
the user access whenever they need it.
Harold
Innis (1950) believed that social change was as a result of the development of
communication media empires (cultures) and that each medium represents a preference
with regards to control and organisation of information. Empires are concerned
with time or space. “Innis sees a dialectical relationship between society and technology:
they influence one another mutually. According to this view, certain social
forms and situations encourage the development of new media; these media,
operating within existing situations, react back on society to produce a new
cycle of change.” (Soules, 2007) Modern empires are unique in the way
that they have the ability to extend beyond both time and space a factor that
ensures its longevity. This builds archives, the power for users to check
‘history,’ a tool used as a basis for individual and or collective memory.
Social
media is a form of convergence between old and new; media convergence brings
together computing, communications and content. Meikle
observes that convergence can be understood in four dimensions:
Technological—the combination of
computing, communications and content around networked digital media platforms;
Industrial—the engagement of established
media institutions in the digital media space, and the rise of digitally based
companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and others as significant media content
providers;
Social—the rise of social network media
such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and the growth of user-created content;
and
Textual—the re-use and remixing of media into what has been termed a
‘transmedia’ model, where stories and media content (for example, sounds,
images, written text) are dispersed across multiple media platforms. (Meikle,
2011) New media is the collection and reinvention of what once was, the online
world has expanded traditional methods for example, the introduction of online
newspapers, boosting viewership as this format is easier.
The
Australian Communications and Media Authority identifies a key consequence of
convergence for consumers has created a substantial increase in “the
availability of media content online—from broadcasters, news organisations,
social media sites, iTunes and YouTube – on an increasing array of connected
devices and screens. The choice of devices for accessing the Internet and 3G
and wireless broadband networks is also giving users flexibility in how and
where they consume media.” (ACMA, 2011) An
important shift in the media associated with convergence is the rise of
user-created content, and a shift in the nature of media users from audiences
to participants, generating interactivity, competition and
interconnectivity. Facebook for example, is utilised by global audiences,
allowing communication to extend beyond location boundaries with messenger, and
video messenger. Users are also able to post photos and videos as well as share
their music with friends. “The ability to "friend" people around the world and
communicate with them, on a person to person level, without politics and all
the divisive issues always in the way is incredibly "transformative."
It opens up new possibilities in human consciousness, for understanding and
cooperation, toward peace and the resolution of our many problems, at a time
when we all need desperately to move together up the evolutionary chain of the
species.” (Rusbridger, 2010) Rusbridger is highlighting the fact that digital
communication is creating our new world, we are moving with the times by moving
across the mediascape, traditional forms are changing and that is inevitable, our
purpose is to discover the unknown.
The
online network society has become dynamic and complex, social media has generated
its own node linking together numerous networks. The Internet has enabled users
to engage with the publics we imagine, reassembling our social engagements. We
create new relationships between content and experience by individualising
content and controlling how and when it is consumed. As a user, you have the
ability to determine when and where to log onto Facebook or Twitter by creating
‘my filter’ and ‘feed’ - tailoring the navigation through the mediascape and therefore
niche‘ing’ ourselves by developing an aggregation of personalisation.
New
media is converting culture into data for publication; nowadays we are
documenting any event and emotion and letting everyone into our world. What is appealing is that online we have the
ability to archive our memories and experiences. For example creating a Youtube
channel, people all over the world can subscribe and watch you, and keep up to
date with your life. More specifically ‘vlogging’ i.e. video blogging, a
popular form of blogging, is a means of documenting your day and then posting
it onto Youtube for ‘like’s and ‘comments.’ This digital culture whereby you
archive your experiences enables the user to create your own digital diary.
“I think that the rise of the social web, just like
writing, the printing press, and the invention of money, is not really about
the end of what came before, but instead is the starting point for what comes
next: richer and more complex societies. These technologies are a bridge we use
to cross over into something new, not a wrecking ball tearing down the old.”(Boyd)
On
the other hand, by making things public can have huge social impacts, “In the name of progress our official culture is striving to force the
new media to do the work of the old.” (McLuhan and Fiore, 1967: 81) In new
media, we question credibility and reliability. When we have the freedom to
comment and share whatever information we want. Regulation is inevitably difficult;
therefore screening unwanted information would be a challenge. The
hidden structures that seem to control our world, where we build and rebuild, in
other words archive fever, exemplifies the problems of technological change and
culture. All of this publishing is
reproduced and redistributed; consequently we are often loosing the ‘special’
and ‘original,’ as well as the truth. There will also be elements of bias and prejudice;
therefore users must make the decision whether or not they subject themselves
to unnecessary content. Social media information is unmediated, and can lead to
anti-social behaviours such as cyber-bullying and the threat of sexual
predators.
As
with any new technology, social media has inevitably attracted criticism; as it
has reduced face-to-face contact. Nowadays for example we are choosing to text instead
of call, shop online instead of physically going into stores, and reading
newspapers online instead of buying the hard copy – everything is being made
easier and ultimately encouraging laziness? “Mass media news outlets
are struggling with changing gate-keeping standards due to demands for
interactive content produced by audiences themselves. Ordinary citizens are
empowered to report on their political experiences while being held to high
standards of information quality and community values. In the long run, these
tendencies may be the most revolutionary aspects of the new media environment.”
(Bennett, 2003)
Comparing traditional often-hierarchical forms of publishing with new media
highlights a number of areas “Mainstream mass media are typically highly
centralized, require significant investment and resources and can be heavily
influenced by governments through various mechanisms and forms of control.”
(Banerjee, 2008) Traditional media, for example newspapers, are produced by individuals
with qualification and industry experience in that area. News stories are selected, and edited to
represent a particular version of a story. Once that article is published or
aired it cannot be changed or edited; the power remains with the owner of the
media outlet either government or private company. In contrast, “The new or
alternative media on the other hand have radically different characteristics.
The new media such as the Internet can be used for both points to mass
communications as well as point-to-point and mass to point message
distribution. They are also extremely de-centralized, require very low
investment, provide greater interactivity and public participation and are much
more difficult to control.“ (Banerjee, 2008) Social media is a shared public
platform therefore anyone can contribute. It is an organic platform that can be
added to and or modified. We utilise social media for communication, as well as
our source of news and current events. Twitter for example is made up of
numerous ‘tweets,’ posts that describe individual’s experiences as well as
breaking news, photos and videos. Users have the ability to ‘retweet,’
‘favourite’ and comment – creating an endless discussion and flow of
information. “The fact that we are increasingly living in an era of media
convergence, distinctions among traditional mainstream mass media and the new
media such as the Internet are getting more and more blurred.” (Banerjee, 2008)
Traditional forms of media have set the foundation for technological
advancement. Social media is the new inexpensive and easily accessed form of
the old. Digital communication should be utilised for its simplicity and
far-reaching interaction. New media is the future and it encompasses social change,
as people want to experiment and challenge pre-conceived ideas and the rigid
boundaries of traditional hierarchical modes of publishing.
References:
G
Meikle and S Young, Media Convergence: Networked Digital Media in Everyday
Life (2011).
Australian
Communications and Media Authority, Digital Australians—Expectations About
Media Content in a Converging Media Environment: Qualitative and Quantitative
Research Report (2011), 7.
Dr.
Marshall Soules, Malaspina University-College, 2007 http://www.media-studies.ca/articles/innis.htm
Innis,
Harold Adams. The Bias of Communication. 1951. Intro. Marshall McLuhan.
Toronto: Univerity of Toronto Press, 1964.
Banerjee, I. 2008. “The
Impact of New Media on Traditional Mainstream Mass Media – A Critical
Assessment.” A Series of Lectures on Trends & Future of the Malaysian Mass
Media. Presented at Dewan Tunku Canselor, University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur.
Bennett, W. L. 2003. “New Media Power:
The Internet and Global Activism.” Pp. 17-37 in Contesting Media Power:
Alternative Media Power in a Networked World, edited by N. Couldry & J.
Curran. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Brydon, D. 2011. “Transnational
Literacies: Redefining Knowledge Mobility for the
DigitalAge.” Literary
Migrations. Accessed 12th June 2013
