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Everyone’s talking about new media. But pinning down new media, forcing it to fit into a packaged definition, is a challenge.
First, let’s define media. A medium (that’s singular) is anything that helps us mediate our experience with the world around us. Media both communicate things about the world and interpret them. Media comes in forms from newspapers to films, from the radio to comic books, from magazines to novels. Media tends to reach a large number of people, and hold definite sway on how we perceive and interact with the world.
If that is media, then what is new media, and how is it different from traditional media?
1. New media conflates or combines the roles of author and audience. We become both creators and consumers of media. The power to publish is no longer only for the big media corporations; everyone can have a voice. And not only can we have a voice, but we are expected to. Interactivity is a must—we are to be both readers and writers of new media texts.
2. New media is about open access and collaboration. As Jimmy Wales, one of the founders of Wikipedia, stated, “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.” New media provides improved approaches to collaboration, adhering to the principle that knowledge is best developed through back and forth “conversations.” As collaboration becomes key and digital piggybacking becomes commonplace, new definitions of intellectual property are emerging.
3. New media combines multiple genres, mediums, and tools, mixing them together in new, constantly evolving ways. On the web we find new, ever changing ways of using and combining text, visuals, audio, video, and interactivity. Communication becomes not about choosing a traditional way to pass on information and opinions; rather, communication is about using creative forms that will best reflect your message and reach your audience.
4. New media can either be considered a democracy or a popularity contest. User votes make things rise to the top, whether it be stars on Amazon or the number of links to a website catalogued by Google search engines. Just as it’s statistically advantageous to trust the crowd on game shows, in new media the ideal is that the gems will rise to the top, to be shared in a viral way.
5. New media is often one and the same as social media. Social media provides new ways to communicate with our preexisting communities, such as family and friends. It also gives us the ability to create and become involved in new communities. Social media is all about YOU, as Time Magazine recognized by giving YOU the 2006 person of the year.
So now, to return to the original question: what is new media? Following the precepts of new media, that is a question you’ll have to answer yourself.
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