new media

Question 1

digitalisation

Answer 1

boyle - digitalisation allows information to be delivered across a range of media platforms
- all data is converted into binary code which can then be stored and distibuted via screen based products

Question 2

technological convergence

Answer 2

single device can be used to consume a variety of types of media

Question 3

economic convergence

Answer 3

companies making alliances with eachother to reduce boundaries between media sectors e.g apple making computers, then mp3 players, then iphone

Question 4

cultural convergence

Answer 4

• the way media users interact with a media content e.g most individuals use internet for shopping
• the way media users interact with other members of society e.g via social networking sites

Question 5

interactivity

Answer 5

digital technologies that are responsive in real time to user input e.g the internet
- jenkins (2008): interactivity has been brought around by convergence because media users will go to great lengths for the entertainment experience they want

Question 6

participatory culture

Answer 6

media producers and consumers are no longer occupying separate roles. they interact with each other according to a new set of rules

Question 7

collective intelligence

Answer 7

the way in which users of new media combine skills, resources and knowledge

Question 8

generational divide

Answer 8

boyle -
- young people are more likely to use a range of media formats
- those aged 16-24 are over 10x more likely to go online via a mobile than those aged 55+

Question 9

digital class divide

Answer 9

• helpser: digital underclass - people who tend to be unemployed, living in poverty and/or less well educated who are disadvantaged in comparison to those who have full access to digital and new media

Question 10

digital gender divide

Answer 10

• ofcom: females are more likely to report high addiction to their mobile phones, game consoles and tablets are more popular among males
• li and kirkup: two global gender-based cultures in internet use
  1. men are more likely to be positive about the internet, spend more time on it, and more confident in their use of it
  2. women more likely to underestimate their ability to use the internet and used it more for studying
• olson: boys = more likely to play violent video games to work out anger and stress

Question 11

global digital divide

Answer 11

• new media is used in Western world, with many in poorer countries lacking access
• poor countries lack resources to build digital networks requires, and private businesses wont provide them
• 85% of websites are in english

Question 12

neophilia

Answer 12

enthusiasm for things that are new
- new media is beneficial to society

Question 13

increased consumer choice
- pluralism

Answer 13

has resulted in more tv channels and increased competition between media institutions to create better media output

Question 14

increased consumer choice
- postmodernism

Answer 14

boyle (2005) - tv is now demand led, we are no longer restrained by schedules . consumers of new media are encouraged to take an active role
- new media also enables people to build their identities and make lifestyle choices in a media saturated society

Question 15

e-commerce

Answer 15

• resulted in more choice to consumers: increases competition, leads to lower prices
• consumers in control as they can compare prices from wide range
• business can tailor advertising e.g using cookies
• consumers can become traders themselves

Question 16

revitalising democracy

Answer 16

mcnair
- greater opportunities to report, criticise and comment e.g george flpyd video was uploaded by an ordinary person
- social movements and camapigns now use the new media to spread their ideas , build support and coordinate protests
- internet gives a voice to those who would otherwise be unheard because traditional new media doesn’t report on their views

Question 17

hacktivist networks

Answer 17

defaced corporate and gov websites and engaged in virtual sabotage e.g ‘web sit-ins’

Question 18

murthy (2013)

Answer 18

• empirically invesitugated impact of twitter
• proved to be extremely useful as a news-gathering medium in terms of communicating information about social movements e,g the Occupy protests in london and ny of 2011, and arab spring anti-gov movements that spread across middle east and north africa between 2011 and 2012

Question 19

cultural pessimist

Answer 19

believe the neophiliacs have exaggerated the benefits of the new media and ignored ot underestimated the negative aspects

Question 20

cornford and robins - not so new media

Answer 20

• revolution of new media has been exaggerated by neophiliacs
• interactivity is not something new because people have written to newspapers and phoned into radio and tv for many years
• only new thing about new media is its speed - information, news and entertainment can be accessed in ‘real time’

Question 21

domination by media conglomerates

Answer 21

• internet becomes more central to our lives, power of companies providing increases
• poses a threat to democracy as more of what we know is dominated and controlled by global corporations
• mackinnon: concept of sovereigns of cyberspace to describe the power of multinational companies to control internet access etc
  — these companies aren’t elected or accountable to the public and exercise what curron and seaton call power without responsibility

Question 22

lack of regulation

Answer 22

undesirable and illegal things can thrive virtually unchecked e.g racist organisations can set up websites whilst individuals can engage in cyber crime or trolling

Question 23

decline in quality of popular culture

Answer 23

• hill and hughes (1997): 78% of political opinions expressed on american websites were mainstream
• harvey: increasingly, Tv culture transmits a candy floss culture that speaks to everyone in general and no one in particular
• turkle: new media users are like ‘cyborgs’. social media connects people but results in greater anxiety and isolation

Question 24

new media as chaos

Answer 24

• keen (2008): No governing moral code, ‘fake news’
• social networking doesn’t contribute to democracy - vehicles for narcissism
• user generated content = unreliable

Question 25

reinforcing elite power
- MARXIST

Answer 25

• major corps dominate the web with sites that ensure their view is dominant
• cornford and robins: through mergers/patents/takeovers, media corps will seek to monopolise the market
• jenkins: corps still exert greater power than any individual consumer— mainly strengthen the power of existing elites rather than promoting alternate ideas and free speech
• seaton: online political involvement probably mirrors the level of ordinary people’s involvement in the real world

Question 26

commercialisation

Answer 26

• rise of ecommerce business: causes competitive rivalry
• cornford and robins: may produce more choice for the consumer, but side effects include companies using cookies to track user data usages and internet activity – target potential customers and enhance profits
• marxists: encourages materialism , consumerism and false needs = furthers capitalist domination and control