New Media and Contemporary Society

Question 1

What is New Media?

Answer 1

• The interactive screen based, digital, technology which is used for distribution and consumption
• Social media is one of the biggest types of new media, it involves social interaction where people can create videos themselves or interact wit others using social media

Question 2

What are five key features of new media?

Answer 2

1. Digitality
2. Interactivity
3. Hyper-textuality
4. Dispersal
5. Virtuality

Question 3

What is digitality?

Answer 3

• The ability to use technology such as computers to access anything without the physical item

Question 4

What is interactivity?

Answer 4

• The ability to engage with this form of media through things such as voting
• Creates a participatory culture where people are involved in the media

Question 5

What is hypertextuality?

Answer 5

• The ability to search, interact and customize our media
• We are able to pause and restart new media

Question 6

What is dispersal?

Answer 6

• Anyone is able to create it or comment on it
• Citizen journalism
• This means there is more diversity however they can be bias views

Question 7

What is virtuality?

Answer 7

• The ability to create a false identity of yourself online
• This can be an imaginary identity

Question 8

What does Helsper believe about internet users?

Answer 8

There are inequalities in terms of who has access to new media, Helsper believes that young, healthy and well educated people are more likely to be frequent internet users

Question 9

What are social class inequalities amongst media users?

Answer 9

• Helsper believes young healthy and well educated people are more likely to use it in comparison to unqualified people
• There is a digital underclass where they cannot access it and therefore lack confidence
• The digital divide is the gap of people with access compared to those who do not

Question 10

What are age differences amongst media users?

Answer 10

• Ofcom have found younger people have greater access and more confidence when using new media, they also rely more on media sources
• Boyle found that young people have grown up with technology which has impacted the divide

Question 11

What are gender differences amongst media users?

Answer 11

• Ofcom found that girls are more likely to use calls, social networking and to read kindles where as boys are more likely to play games and relax

Question 12

What are location differences amongst media users?

Answer 12

• Western countries are likely to be information rich due to being able to access the new media
• The rest of the world are information poor and their lack of access created a global digital underclass

Question 13

What is new medias affect on traditional media?

Answer 13

• There has been a huge decline in printed newspapers and a downtrend in traditional media companies, they need to integrate their traditional media into new media, this can be through create websites
• This means that new media is more accessible to all and gain instant gratification

Question 14

What are three ways new media has impacted traditional media (Bivens)?

Answer 14

1. Shift in traditional news flow cycles - News is now released quicker and reported by citizen journalists meaning they need to be faster checking and quicker
2. Heightened Accountability - They need to ensure and cross reference their news and have more responsibility, this form of media lasts forever
3. Evolving news values - They now priorities controversy, gossip and infotainment

Question 15

What do the Cultural Optimist view believe about media?

Answer 15

• They state that new media is positive

Question 16

What are the six reasons why Cultural Optimists believe media is positive?

Answer 16

1. Informed consumers and wider choice
2. Greater Democracy
3. Access
4. Global Village
5. Social Life enhancement

Question 17

How does new media give more informed consumer and wider choice?

Answer 17

• They have more channels and social media platforms to choose
• They can pick when they want to watch it and what they want to watch
• Gives the ability to see multiple view points and make an informed consumer choice such as reviews and comments

Question 18

How does new media give greater democracy?

Answer 18

• The ability to find and research things easier, more people are able to voice their opinion in a democratic engagement

Question 19

How does new media give more access?

Answer 19

• They have access to any information due to the freedom of information meaning that they have access to a greater amount

Question 20

How does new media create a global village?

Answer 20

• People are more connected across the world and the ability to communicate with new people to help one another

Question 21

How does new media enhance social life

Answer 21

• People are able to keep in touch with one another and stay connected without seeing each other

Question 22

What do the Cultural Pessimist believe about new media?

Answer 22

• New media has a negative impact on society

Question 23

What are the six reasons why the cultural pessimist view believe media is negative?

Answer 23

1. Validity
2. Cultural Imperialism
3. Threatens democracy
4. Limited consumer choice
5. Surveillance
6. Undermines relationships

Question 24

Why does the media lack validity?

Answer 24

- Lacks validity as it is not true to real life - It is an overload of information

Question 25

How is media cultural imperialism?

Answer 25

- They are owned by large media conglomerates which means they are able to profit of things such as advertisements

Question 26

How does new media threat democracy?

Answer 26

- The elites are able to manipulate advertising - eg. Gulf War

Question 27

How does new media limit consumer choice?

Answer 27

- Creates a narrow popular culture which transmits the dominant ideology to distract people from bigger issues

Question 28

How is new media a form of surveillance?

Answer 28

- Leads to an increased state of surveillance and the ability to target advertising to certain people - Cambridge Analytica

Question 29

How does new media undermine relationships?

Answer 29

- People now choose to message rather than see each other which weakens their relationship