What’s the main difference between traditional media and new media? How can we define ‘new media’? And how about those recent new media like VR and Home automation? Although the reading ‘What is New Media’ by Lev Manovich might not be quite up-to-dated (published in 2001), it could at least give me some clue to the above questions.
During 1990s, media practitioners began to make media by the assistance of computer programme like word processing software and video editing programme, where at that time, traditional media had also been computerised, and started being distributed through computers (Manovich, 2001), such as information shown online, and images being that stored in CD-ROM, which the above media had been classified as ‘new media’ by following five different principles:
Numerical representation
Modularity
Automation
Variability
Transcoding
Long story short, new media have to first be able to represented by numbers and codes, that is programmable and mathematically control by algorithms; Where it can also be broken down into small parts and each of the pieces could be modified independently. After building by program codes and a modular structure, the media would have to be automatically working by its own in certain extent without the involve of human force, that its algorithms could allow users to create and modify things by only giving instructions; Meanwhile, its context should have infinite versions and each of it is different, depends on the actions and choices gave/made by various users; Lastly, the media object can be transcoded into another format, and it could re-define media that already exist, that could influence our culture and how we live.
In assignment 2, me and my partner is going to investigate the online platform Instagram, about how could we use its unique features to make media and to convey our message. Instagram was being launched in 2010, a mobile social platform that would definitely be said as new media, compare with the Internet and computer programmes that being mentioned in the reading due to the popularisation of web 2.0.
To examine Instagram by using the above principles, is it a ‘new media’ from Manovich’s perspective?
1. Since it is an mobile application, it was certainly built by computer codes, programs and algorithm;
2. It was formed by pieces that could be separated, including graphics, buttons and tags, that these could even be break down to smaller parts;
3. Programmed automation takes part in every action after users giving instructions by tapping their phone, from logging in, refresh, upload media, to closing the application. Furthermore, it also has a higher level of intelligence that could automatically compress all the image/video that users had upload, as well as to compress the quality of what had been presented to them when they are using cellular networks.
4. In terms of Variability, each of the Instagram application that’s been installed on a smartphone could be described as a different version of it, that Instagram has it’s own algorithm to determine what feed is being shown to every individual user, based on what they have posted a tagged, followed, frequently visit, etc., which is also the key characteristic of social media platforms.
5. For Transcoding, Instagram had reshaped our culture in various ways like other social network platform, of how we had communicate with others and share our everyday live, worth mentioning that, Instagram had released the Stories feature which made it stood out from other applications, a post that only last for 24 hours, where we could creatively film what we have seen by using different shooting mode (e.g. rewind, superzoom), as well as to create a simple yes-or-no poll to interact with our followers.