Welcome! I plan to explore the realm of new media, something I’ve already begun simply by creating this blog, and I encourage you to leave your own comments on the issues presented.
I am a senior at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Radio/TV Communications. I am the Station Manager for KSAU 90.1 FM at SFASU and I serve as the Chair of the Student Council at the Wesley Foundation Student Ministry. In addition, I am a Student Instructor for a section of SFA 101, a course designed to assist freshmen with the transition to college. When not in school, I live in Houston, Texas where I continue to serve as a worship technician at my church. I am an Eagle Scout, member of the National Broadcasting Society, and I recently interned with Cox Media Group Houston, where I worked with the producer of the 93Q Morning Zoo and the Production Director.
New media, ironically, is most easily described by discussing old media, technology that already exists, but remains relatively new. Items such as the iPhone and Blackberry and websites such as YouTube and Facebook can all be considered new media, despite the fact that they have each been around for several years. The key to understanding new media lies in comparing it to traditional media such as radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines. A more abstract discussion could include potential new mediums which have yet to be created or which have not yet become widely used and accepted by the public. My working definition for new media is: recently developed or potential technology which improves upon traditional media by broadening the abilities of the user.
New media is often not accepted at first because of initial high cost to the user and because people don’t understand the need for it when they’ve been getting along with their old media just fine. Baron Dennis suggests in From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies that new technologies also threaten the business of former technologies, further delaying their widespread acceptance. Over time, new media becomes automatically accepted as some begin to understand its potential while others live without knowledge of its predecessor. At that point, the new media becomes traditional and is soon replaced by the next innovation.
New media often lead to a loss of personal contact in communication and consequently, the ability of the receiver to fully understand the tone and scope of the sender’s message is diminished. Similarly, there are many aspects of traditional media that, by their very nature, new media cannot provide. Dennis gives the example of Samuel Morse’s aversion to Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. Morse realized that unlike with a telegraph, a telephone could not provide physical documentation of the communication taking place. Unlike watching TV, when a user searches for videos on YouTube, they cannot be assured of their quality or appropriateness. The key to the success of a new medium is expressed in my working definition. The new media must be able to improve upon the traditional media by giving the user more abilities, such as instant access to news on an iPhone. These new abilities must outweigh the negative aspects of the new technology in order for the medium to gain acceptance. Ultimately, Dennis points out that fraudulent use of new media becomes more of a concern as they become more established. This, in turn, helps fuel the need for the creation of new media.
Check out: Dennis, Baron. “From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies” in Passions, Pedagogies and 21st Century Technologies, 1999.
http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/essays/pencils.htm
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