Carter F. S
Educator, Consultant, Coauthor The Emergence of The Relationship Economy
What does the term "new media" mean to you, and when is it no longer "new?"
Good Answers (5)
Hi,
Maybe my answer arrives too late and won't help you that much regarding the quality of previous interventions but I though maybe my input could be of some help. In the course of my phd write up, I had to deal wit plenty of terms about "the transformation of online informational landscape that is happening out there". What I can propose is an articulation between 3 level of abstraction in which you will then be able to navigate from now.
According to works of great people such as boyd, Fuchs, Lietsala et Sirkkunen fo example, I identified 3 types of terms: Web 2.0 - Social Media - Social Software. After a deep literature review and a definition analysis I identified that this phenomenon can be described either as a set of trends, as set of practices and/or a set of tools.
Therefore I propose to consider that Social software (blogs, wiki, social network sites, etc.) have to be consider as the tools that support practices and uses in the form of Social Media (E;G: blogging, taggin, twittering, linking, sharing, etc.). The later are part of the trend that is commonly names Web 2.0 (data on an epic scale, cult of the amateur, produser, long tail, etc.) . These 3 level of abstraction help you deal with the variety of terms and place yourself regarding you analytical needs.
So to answer your question, Social Media are all the practices that are supported by social software. You may want to have a look at the synthetic framework I've build upon an definition analysis of several dozen of sources, academic or not... The link is below. I suggest you directly switch to the end of the paper where you'll find the map...
I Hope it helps ;-)
Kind Regards.
Links:
William K
Vice President of Business Development at David Morris International
Best Answers in: Mentoring (1), Advertising (1), Change Management (1)
Carter:
Great question. The net-net answer is that blogs, podcasts, wiki, widgets— all "new media" are no more than new channels for delivering our company's messaging -- and in my case, my news and information to my readers. Today's media will have to evolve to include "new media" to survive. Please see a short essay I wrote about newspapers in the digital age:
http://www.echelonmagazine.com/index.php?id=338
Warmly,
William R. Kapfer, PhD
Tim P
Audio/Video Technician at Pensacola Christian College
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (3), Starting Up (2), Education and Schools (1), Writing and Editing (1), Telecommunications (1)
Well, Carter, "new media" is a term that is recently frequently applied to any new gadget or gizmo that flashes and has a touch-screen. However, new media in its truest sence has not reached the market in years. Even the internet, as awesome a power it is and will continue to be, was not a "new media" when it was "invented" (by Algore! ha!)
What we saw emerge with the Internet and continue to see emerge today with things like BlackBerrys, iPhones, and even technologies like BluRay, was merely a new way of experiencing the media. Think about it. The internet has only changed the apperance of the old media. Telephones, radio, mail, television, magazines and newspapers, and even theater are all essentially the same, but viewed in a different way. Different formats of the old media, if you will. It's all part of Nicholas Negreponte's concept of convergence. Look it up some time. Very accurate in his predictions.
So to answer your question, "new media" to me means a new form of communication that is so different and so new that it has never even been thought of (not invented, but even thought of).
As far as when it starts getting old, well that's a matter of opinion. To me, it's when people stop bending over to look at it, stand up, glance around and say, "So what's next?" And that, my friend, is the perfect moment for new media to enter the scene. Sadly, it's been a few decades since that's happened.
Your A/V Techie,
Tim Parsons
The oldest bridge in Paris is called Le Pont Neuf (the new bridge) because it was brand new when completed...in 1607! My point is some labels outlast their original meaning and intent. I agree with you that "new" media is no longer new. TV aside (which has lost some eyeballs to the internet but remains an influential media), all media forms worth discussing are "new". The Internet, still young and for all intents and purposes, on its second release (web 2.0) is growing by leaps and bounds. Meanwhile print is dying a slow death. Will "new" media still be new when there is virtually nothing else left? Like the parisian bridge, probably.
New media as a term is somewhat deprecated from its instantiation in the dotcom days. But, depending on the audience, I use it in an arch way to suggest a change. Kind of a tricky term because it often refers to stuff that elides, like new vs old news, or social networking ideas that work in spite of bad designs. In my book on social networking best practices are emerging, which maybe makes it hard to use the term there.
