So I started my undergraduate degree in media this week, and it’s been all systems go with student cards, books, emails, invoices and the suchlike (hence the singular post this week instead of what will hopefully be a usual three). We started Media One with a lectorial (lecture/tutorial), followed by a workshop. Mostly, we were doing exactly what all uni students were doing this week – icebreakers, going over course guides, setting up the relevant tech – which is all very exciting, but the thing that really inspired my blog post was our reading for this week, a 2010 blog post from William Merrin (http://mediastudies2point0.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/studying-me-dia-problem-of-method-in.html).

Merrin talks from the perspective of a media researcher, and discusses the problems associated with studying media created in new media formats, such as on smartphones or on social media. It really got me thinking about what would seem a pretty fundamental question for a media student but not one I’d really thought of before: What is media?

I did a unit of new media at high school, so I’m not entirely unfamiliar with the idea that some of the more recent technological developments such as YouTube or smartphone apps can be considered media as well. But in this article, Merrin goes one step further, suggesting that personal media such as photos (selfies included) and home videos should be studied by media professionals alongside already recognised formats. This isn’t even the core contention of the article; it’s merely an assumption upon which he bases his discussion of the difficulties of media research.

Merrin’s article made me realise that although I’d understood new media to be a part of the media landscape, my definition of media was limited to what he calls ‘broadcast media’: formats such as TV, film or print that aim to appeal to a mass audience. It had simply never occurred to me to qualify products I made for personal use as being ‘media’ as well.

Which brings us back to the increasingly blurred line between media producers and consumers. In past generations, I would have been solely a consumer, watching my TV and reading my newspaper. But now, armed with my smartphone, I’m a creator as well, whether I leave my home videos on my computer or upload them to my blog or YouTube channel. Considering I’ve just realised I’m a media student who’s not entirely confident on what ‘the media’ really is, already being able to call myself a ‘creator’ is a comforting thought.