What is New Media?

COLLAPSE

New media is a buzz word that has been thrown around allot in recent years but what is really meant by it? According to scholars in order to be considered new media the medium must have at least 3 of the “5 C’s”. These include communication, collaboration, community, creativity and convergence. Old media, sometimes referred to as web 1.0 lacks the 5 c’s while web 2.0 or new media features these prominently.  The goal of new media is to level the playing field while making a global community.

This can be seen in the article “taking Student Where No School Bus Can Go”. With the power of Skype, a new media, a 5^th grade teacher in Virginia is able to take a “online field trip” to the frozen tundra of Antarctica. There her class has the unique opportunity to speak with and ask questions to scientists based at Palmer Station, Antarctica. An opportunity like this is valuable especially to children and having a scientist you look up to say “get your education so you can come down here and join us” is all the inspiration little 5^th graders need to try and make their dreams reality. Something as simple as a web chatting service effectively shrinks the world and makes it a tighter knit community.

New media has also changed the way we watch television. A new age of cord cutter and cord never young adults is coming and this is making telecommunication companies rethink the business model of television. According to the article “Who Needs a TV I’m Watching on Laptop” 8% of NBC viewers watch network television solely online. This number may not seem incredibly high but if you take in account that this statistic was from 2008 it may spell a different story. I’m no professional statistician but with the growth of companies such as Hulu, HBO go and Netflix this percentage must be much larger. Many people feel that once live sports and live events get a quality streaming service this could be the end to cable or satellite television as we know it. This doesn’t lead to the death of networks however. Many people feel that watching a show online leads to a more intimate experience with the show and makes you more likely to follow along (for those who binge watched Game of Thrones).

The difference between new media and old media is simple, old media relied on feeding information to a mass unknown audience. New media relies on community and connecting to the audience.