Networked what?

So, here I am. A Networked Media student of semester 2 2013. To any of my friends not studying in the field of media and communications, they would have absolutely no clue as to what that would possibly entail. For me, as a ‘media professional’….well..almost.. I obviously have some more valid hypotheses, ideas, expectations and thoughts relating to the course. To me, when I initially heard simply the name ‘networked media’, I thought of connections and interactions. At first, I did not know it would be all about blogging and online media, and perhaps more along the lines of communication and integration between media platforms and forms. But then I realise now, that that is what networked media is. Well, I think so anyway. A part of it. I’m sure I will be able to answer this question more clearly at the end of the course, that’s for sure.

I found it interesting that in the first tutorial, we discussed this concept that is networked media. We used Adrian’s post ‘What is Networked Media?’ which was week 1’s reading, as the basis for our discussion. I like the introduction, how networked media can be thought of as a boat amongst a sea or ocean of ideas. I think dishevelled is an interesting word for describing networked media, although maybe it would not be the first word that springs to mind. But dishevelled is a great description, as the Internet really is a mixed, jumbled up place. A cobweb of endless information; factual, opinionated, inaccurate and interesting. I think the remark about there being no shore in sight, signifies the endlessness of networked media and how it is like a cycle, ongoing and interconnected, and not something with a clear start and end point. I also related to the comment ‘it bobs, floats, weaves,’ as I can see that this is what the internet is like; a neverending cyclic world where comments, thoughts and information just kind of ‘float’ around. For example, something I may have written on the internet years ago could be found in 20 years. 30 years, 50 even! It’s like a washing machine, that continually gets new clothes thrown in and someone forgets to empty it. But somehow, it just keeps on holding the information (the clothes). I’ve often thought about this and how the world of networked media can never become ‘full’. It really puzzles me. You can overpopulate the world with people, but it seems that so far, networked media is endless.

I thought that in addition to my own thoughts, Adrian’s thoughts etc it was important to have a little google out there in the networked media world to see how networked media is defined there. Our good friend Wikipedia defines networked media as, “media mainly used in computer networks such as the Internet.” Ok, so according to this, we can rule out networked media including things like print, radio, etc. But can we? With the world becoming so integrated and dare I say, networked, black and white turns to grey area.

Media convergence is the way of the present and most certainly, the future. So, with that in mind, I am willing to keep an open mind and explore this semester what it is that constitutes networked media. I’m sure there will still be plenty of ‘grey area’ by the end of the course, but I’m hoping that through the unlectures, tutorials and my own learning and blog discussion, I will be closer to a comprehension of what networked media is all about.

Sure, this image may show the features of a hard drive. But I just thought it was a great, simple pictorial representation of just how integrated media is today.

(Image: Key Features of the Home Media Network Hard Drive. Ienova 2013. http://iomega.com/about/prreleases/2009/010509_home_media.html)