4. The Political Economy of New Media

4.    

The Political Economy of New Media

This week’s lecture taught me that money is power and when it comes to media ownership, if you own the media you own society. This statement sounds rather extreme and one could argue that people are intelligent; they are not so easily fooled, just as audience are no longer believed to be passive, however, the theoretical approach to this lecture posed the question: Whose interests are served in the media? The answer is the media owners and this affects not only the economy of society but the audience and society as a whole.

The worrying thing is that a lot of New Zealand media is owned by international companies and even though people may not easily be fooled by the media and they may not be passive, the media still play a significant role in our lives because it is part of our daily routine.  Furthermore, those who own the means of production also control the dominant ideology in society. Ideology is a set of beliefs, a worldview, and that is something that is not easily contested or denied.  Concentrated ownership means diminished voices which can be seen as deliberate manipulation as any debates or alternative views from alternative sources are not seen and heard and therefore do not seem to exist.

A contrasting view of media ownership can be found in liberal pluralism where it is believed that the media play an important role with free speech and also provide a forum for opinion and debate and thus, provide a range of voices. This view says that ownership does not deliberately manipulate and therefore, they encourage free thinkers and believers. If one thinks about how the range of competitors are disappearing as ownership becomes concentrated one can only see that media owners are ruled by commercialism and have greed and their own interests at heart. This does not bode well for the audience and society.

There is a number of different ways and definitions of how convergence potentially impacts the ownership and control of new media. In Lister’s definition digitality in the main idea where everything has its own characteristics such as newspaper and television, but all are now digitised and you can find them on the internet. This affects ownership as it changes production and distribution and will also affect profits. The other way and definition of converge that affects ownership is in the way previously separate owners once operated in different sectors but due to convergence these separate entities are now owned by the same owner which can be seen in the I-phone as the one owner, Apple, makes profit from the separate entities of phone service, music, film, television and the internet. With convergence, the owners can increase their profit margin and new media convergence gives them the chance to do this. 

With money comes power, and in my opinion convergence allows media owners to increase their power and their profits. The media do not control our minds, but they do help shape our values and beliefs. If you own the media, you own society. If you own global media, you own the world.  

Alarmed? I think we should be.

3. Virtual Community and Social Networks

3.    

Virtual Community and Social Networks

Virtual communities are networks where the community members are the human component. These communities have a group identity, values and norms that are shared between the group members. There is insider knowledge, sustained participation, shared sites in which the members spend time on and common relationships that are formed in these virtual communities. The communities are self sustaining and depend upon human feeling to form relationships and group dynamics in cyberspace. It is more common for virtual community members to be face-to-face strangers. This social aspect of the internet has potential positive and negative consequences. I will look at my flat mate’s membership in a virtual community and through this case study I will analyse the potential consequences involved.

    

My flatmate is a member of a virtual community that started from MOGs (Multi-player online game) through the interest of internet games. Since meeting on the 'Dark Orbit' game his community has moved onto other game sites such as ;Shire' which they collectively play. Through this interest he has found other people like him and this helps with the human need to belong. His community (he calls a guild) is called Dirty Dozen and currently there are 34  members originating from all around the world. Of the potential positives, he has gotten to know his friends/members without physical distractions. They are social connections that would otherwise not exist in real life and he has spoken with people who has broadened his horizons in a way he would not have in real life, such as talking to people from an array of cultures and finding out what each culture tolerates etc. Virtual communities, such as Chaise’s community, has united people across different races and socio-economic classes. Virtual communities can help real life situations, such as activism through to being a support system/mediation/listener for a member. The last positive consequence of this virtual community is chaise’s social identification. Utz (2008) describes “Social identity is that part of an individual’s self-concept which derives from his knowledge of his membership of a social group (or groups) together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership.” (P. 260).  

           Beginning the potential negative consequences, social identity also has some negative characteristics which can also features for any type of group, both virtual and in real life. They include conformity to the group norms, group influence in an individual’s decision, cohesion and solidarity. Basically, a potential risk of community/group membership is losing one’s individuality and voice as one complies to the norms and behaviour of the group. A person can use group membership and the internet to ignore or avoid reality. Relationship on the internet can become more important than real life relationships. Because one can do no more but trust in their word, a member could be glamorised or made out to be someone they are not and the members would be none the wiser as they are unable to see the person’s warts, so to speak. The last and what I believe to be the most important negative consequence is that I feel Chaise is suffering from being obsessed with the virtual world and community. He spends each waking moment he is home with his community. I can’t even have a proper conversation with him without him interrupting to speak to a group member or not hearing a word I say. Rheingold (2001) affirms “To the millions who have been drawn into it, the richness and vitality of computer-linked cultures is attractive even addictive.” (P. 274).

References

Rheingold, H. (2001). The Virtual Community. Reading Digital Culture. David Trend (Ed.). Massachusetts: Blackwell.

Utz, S. (2008).  Social Identification with virtual communities. Mediated Interpersonal Communication. (Konikm, A. S., Utz, S., Tanis, M., & Barnes, B. S. Eds.). New York: Routledge.

2. New Media and Youth Culture

2.    

New Media and Youth Culture

Digital literacy refers to being able to use, read and navigate new media technologies. New media technologies have become a naturalistic part of Western society. Each new version, and improvement made on media technologies is done for commercial reasons and the youth are seen as a large consumer group. Digital divide is the perceived gap between those who have access to new technologies and those who do not have access. The digital divide that exists in young people’s access to new media technologies will be discussed and by looking at my generation (Generation X – 1980’s) and my younger brother’s generation (Generation Y – 1990’s) the question of an emerging digital literacy gap will be seen.

Digital literacy is evolving with each young generation that emerges. Thomas (2007) quoted New Media Consortium 2005 report who stated “Young people adept at interpreting meaning in sound, music, still and moving images, and interactive components not only seem quite able to cope with messages that engage several of these pathways at once, but in many cases prefer it…” (P. 183). This is due to the advancement in technology in which youth are at the forefront of knowing how to manage, work and control it. In the younger generations digital literacy and competence is a given right; they find it easier to grasp the latest sophistication in technology that has been brought out to take over from its predecessor. Youth also have more spending money than any other age demographic due to having little financial responsibility at that age. Marketers are aware of these facts and attract teenage audience with not only the glamour of new products, but with teenage specific marketing such as the use of teen language (slang, and txt language) to attract, motivate, and keep their target audience ‘connected’.

My generation has a healthy scepticism of advertising and a love/hate relationship with the media. I know that I depend upon it but I am not completely seduced and under its thrall. I am aware of the media’s commercialism and use of weasel words i.e. “Experts believe..” without being caught up in the web of illusions created. Due to the shift in audience power Generation Y has become even more literate. My brother’s generation is both a consumer of the media and a producer. They are level-headed about new media but also interact with it on a further levels through video games, Youtube, Social Networking sites and Ipod.  

The digital divide that exists in young people’s access is not as significant as one would think. Livingstone, Bober & Helsper (2005) observed this is due homes and schools having access for vast portion of youth. “Most 9-19 year olds (84%) are daily or weekly users of the internet.” (P. 3). I believe the importance of new media technology on youth culture is also a contributor. Livingstone, Bober & Helsper (2005) also contended that as with youth marketing, middle class youth are more like to have access and use it more often. Lack of access is the most significant reason for the digital divide. Lack of interest (older youth) and safety issues (younger youth) are other reasons contributing to a digital divide. Parents affect the digital divide as well due to their financial assistance with youth access. “Only 3% of UK 9-19 year olds have never used the internet, a similar figure to that found in the EU and USA.” (P. 3).

References

Thomas, A. (2007). Youth Online Identity and Literacy in the Digital Age. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.

Livingstone, S., Bober, M., & Helsper, E. (2005, April). Inequalities and the Digital Divide in Children and Young People’s Internet Use. Retrieved October 15, 2009, from http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/children-go-online/UKCGOdigitaldivide.pdf

1. New Media, Old Media

1.    

New Media, Old Media

Media plays an essential role in Western society. It is how we find out news of local and global events, it is what we use for entertainment; it is part of our daily lives, it has been a part of society generations before my generation began and media will be around for generations after my generation has passed away. The traditional and well established media organisations such as cinema, printing press and broadcasting, are considered the old as they have been a fixture of Western society for a long time. They are familiar, often taken for granted and thus, they have become the ordinary and of the mundane. New media offers the excitement of newness that holds the connotation of advancement and improvement we humans strive for. New Media is a name this is inclusive and is used for a range of technologies. To me, new media means new technology, such as the internet, and new technological means of communication. The key differences between old media and new media and the impact new media has had on society will be discussed.

A key difference between old media and new media is digitality Old media is analogous which follows a set pattern and can only be converted into physical analogous forms. Digital converts data into separate bits of abstract symbols and numbers. It improves the quality of the data and can be easily accessed at fast speeds and manipulated. Interactivity is a key difference between the old and new media. With new technology the audience has more power and control. The audience of old media were often perceived as passive audiences with little control on the media they consumed but with new media, the media consumers can also be the producers as well – they can change and manipulate the media through computer editing or the choices they make in a video game. The participation levels are high; consumers not only interact with the media but can also interact with other users of the media at the same time. Lievrouw & Livingstone (2006) affirm “The most important characteristics seem to be interactive features, perceived interactivity, and interactive exchange.” (P. 207).  

Media plays a central role in our lives. The old and new media continues to shape who we are and impact our lives in every way. It has broken down the barrier between producer and consumer; it has given us a D.I.Y status through domestic software such as editing programs for video and photography. It connects us to the world by deepening our knowledge and providing new ways of connecting with others– by web cams, by social websites and programs such as skype. Most of all technological changes have increased the production and consumption of media texts.  It impacts us at home just as it does as work. The way people work has changed, more jobs have been created, skill levels have increased and have become more accessible. People are expected to know to use technology at work, such as PowerPoint. New media has entered into our education system, as tools to learn, and as subjects to be taught. New technology has decentralised traditional media by placing more control in the consumers’ hands. Lister (2003) asserts “...It is certainly the case that distance between the elite process of media production and everyday life is smaller now than at any time in the age of mass media.” (P.33). Consequently, traditional newspapers are now under threat; their physical form risks becoming obsolesce. New media has taken over, claimed us and now affects us in every way.       

References

Lievrouw, A, L., & Livingstone, S. (Eds)., (2006). Handbook of New Media Social Shaping and Social Consequences of ICTs. London: Sage Publications.

Lister, M., et al. (2003). New Media and New Technologies. New Media: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge.