This week was all about social media. One of this weeks reading was Understanding New Media from Eugenia Siapera (2013). In this text Siapera defines new media and explains why it is a more useful term than digital or online media. Siapera defines new media as including “attributes such as digital, online and others as well without limiting or prioritizing any single one” (2013, p. 5). When it comes to an understanding of new media there is also an expectation that there you must take into account the changes and transformations in social norms, ideas and practises.

In this weeks lecture I also really liked the imagery of the plant in the jar which demonstrates how new media, social media and Instagram all co-exist. New media is the jar that has the capacity for things, cultures or communicative practices to grow and emerge. Social media is therefore on of the roots that have begun to grow inside the jar and reacts according to the environmental changes in the jar (this being the new technologies emerging or software updates) and Instagram is one of the leaves growing inside and is dependant on the jar and roots. Therefore, when you are discussing new media you are implicitly discussing the existence of social media.

Siapera states that there are three characteristics of new media:

⇓ Digital media ⇓

Digital media’s focus is primarily on the technological element of the media. It is not always evolving.

• All information and data in media is encoded in binary code
• Media texts become de-linked from particular media
• Information can be compressed
• Fast access to data
• Mp3 files, digital text / images / videos

⇓ Online media ⇓

Online media is a direct reference to the internet. There is more of a priority on the element of connectivity and is representative of a shift to modernity in society. It is not always evolving.

• Connected media
• YouTube videos, Netflix, podcasts etc.
• Accessible on demand

⇓ Evolving ⇓

New media is always evolving. It is fluid and able to move between the modes of being digital and online. Siapera describes this new element as a significant change in the media, as a result of the “convergence between the computational logic characteristic of the computers and the communicative logic characteristic of the media.” (2013, p. 5).

• Openness
• Different ideas, users, logic
• Innovative and dynamic
• Reliance on new technology
• Attributes such as digital and online – without limiting or prioritizing either

So now let’s take a closer look at social media – one of the many roots of new media. Social media came about from the rise of Web 2.0, a mode of using the internet that involves a high degree of participation. It is engaging, collaborative and interactive and the audience now plays a participatory role. Instagram is a social media platform where as Hinton et al. states users can “create various forms of presence”. They can create or generate their own photo and video content and share it with other users, therefore creating a more networked and interconnected society. Instagram also comes with many updates, a crucial element of new media, as this ensures that the app is up-to-date with current trends and new technologies to ensure that their users remain on their platform.

References:

Siapera, E 2013, Understanding New Media, SAGE Publications, London, UK.

Hinton, S & Hjorth, L 2013, Understanding Social Media, SAGE Publications, London, UK.