Livingstones Definition of the New Media: Positive and Negative Impact - Research Paper Example

Sonia Livingstone: Key Contributions to Understanding of New Media Introduction 1. The New Media The newly emerged digital media is called the New Media. This includes the dissemination of information though the internet, networking, communication technologies and computers. The new media is distinctive because of its manipulability, networkablity, compressibility, and density (Flew 2002, 2008). The new media theory is quite fresh and it is still in its infancy. It encompasses numberless genres including web sites, video games, chat rooms, CD-ROMs, DVDs, mobile phones, hypertexts, blogs, digital audios and videos, multimedia presentation, and other virtual media. The new media has made access of information easier than ever, it offers a communication and information in a delightful, interesting and useful manner. Theorists (Livingstone & Lievrouw 2006, Manovich 2003) asserts that media like feature films, television programs, newspapers, magazines, books and other paper based publications do not include in the new media. Fig. 1 The New Media The new media has emerged as a forceful component of the modern communications during the past two and a half years. Before 1980s media users relied upon older forms of media including television, radio, books and newspapers. The new manipulative nature of the new media has raised many questions since the information disseminated through this can be controlled and distorted in order to achieve specific political, cultural, or social goals. Due to this force of the new media globalisation is taking place and the social and cultural values are expanding beyond the boundaries of specific nation states (Flew 2002). One of the most important features of the new media is its interactivity. Various users can interact to each other in a very effective manner (Manovich 2003). The interactivity of the information is also important since various sources of information are available on the internet which can be compared, contrasted and evaluated interactively. This feature allows speedy communication and convenient access to the sources of information. 1.2. Theorists and Theories of the New Media Plenty of theorists have presented their theories concerning the new media, its characteristics and its implications on the social, cultural, political and psychological values of the people using it. Sonia Livingstone is one such theorist who has shed light on the new media as an object of research. She is concerned with the every changing nature of the Internet as an object of research. Livingstone argues that the audio-visual based Internet of the late 2000s is extremely different from the text-based media of the late 1990s (2005, p. 12). Livingstone (2003, 2003b, 2004, 2005) has discussed a variety of issues related to children’s use of the Internet, media consumption by the users, political and social impact of the Internet and the value of media regulations. Mark Poster (1990), another important new media theorist, believes that the new media has the power to modify the concepts of the self, culture, social relations, and identity. The relationship between people and information technologies is complex and the social and cultural theorists need to focus more on this complexity. He believes that the post-structuralist and post-modern theories related to media have the ability to explain the phenomena of the new media. Dan Schiller (2000), on the other hand, discusses the influence of political economy on the new media. He believes that the corporate power has played a vital role in development and shaping of the new media. Due to this influence the new media has become market-driven. The new telecommunications transformation is not driven by technology but policy which means that it has been modified and utilized by the capitalists in order to increase their profits. Daniel Miller (1998) and Don Slater (2002) have discussed the influence of the new media in shaping the social and cultural identities of its users. The theory of social spaces, presented by these two theorists, states that the Internet has its own culture and it has the power of forming its own social spaces where the users identify themselves with unique social spaces that are quite different from the objective spaces the live in. Tiziana Terranova is another significant new media theorist. In her work Network Culture: Politics for the Information Age (2004) she explores the relationship between culture, information, and politics. She believes that the new media has made available an unprecedented abundance of information to the users of today. The Internet and other information technologies have germinated a new political economy and plenty of new informational and cultural space that are reshaping the minds of the users of these technologies. Fig. 2 Impact of the New Media 1.3. Sonia Livingstone The researcher has selected Sonia Livingstone is professor of social psychology and head of the department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics. She has authored/edited fourteen books and several research articles. She has written a number of books and articles on various themes of the new media including the influence of the Internet on children, reception of audiences for television programs, the Internet policies, and research methods in media communications. She mainly focuses on the relationship of the audience and the broadcast media and the Internet. Her views about the changing nature of the Internet are convincing and extremely valuable for the new media theorists. A striking difference has been observed between the Internet of the late 1990s and the Internet of the late 2000s due to the increasing role of audio and video feeds (Livingstone 2005, p. 12). 2. Key Contributions of Livingstone in the Understanding of the New Media Livingstone’s interest in the new media relates to a number of diverse issues including children’s use of the Internet, media consumption by the users, political and social impact of the Internet and the value of media regulations. Lievrouw and Livingstone (2006) define the new media as “the artifacts or devices used to communicate or convey information, the communication activities and practices in which people engage to communicate or share information and the social arrangements or organizational forms that develop around those devices and practices” (p.2). Media serves as a tool of conveying social and cultural values and influences users’ minds in a variety of ways. Lievrouw and Livingstone (2006, p.65) cited examples of the new media’s influence through community radio from the researches carried out by Jankowski’s (2001) on the links between the community radio/television and the public mindset. His studies demonstrated the role of radio for better exchange between different groups of society and implies that radio serves as a tool for women’s empowerment (Coleman 2001, Mitchell 2001). However, the new media can also be subject to the restraints when it accepts the influence of commercialization (Barlow 2001). Media practices of today can be understood more clearly when seen in the context of the new media theories. Livingstone’s (2005) assertion that the new media refers to the use of new technologies or the new media forms can be challenged since the new media theory cannot be understood just by inclusion of the newest technologies. The social and cultural changes offered by the new media depend more upon the way people use media. The purpose and intention of the people should be valued rather than the mode of communication. Livingstone’s contributions to the new media theory are diverse yet the researcher in the present study will focus more on her views about the relationship of children and the new media, especially the influence of the Internet on children. Livingstone (2004, 2005, 2006) believes that the new media including interactive electronic and video games, the Internet, personal computers, and cable television have become an unavoidable part of children’s daily lives. This increasing influence of the new media has taken children away from the traditional leisure activities and has provided them with more varieties of pleasure. Due to their indulgence in the Internet and electronic games, they are now less interested in political activities. However, children do not prefer media on activities like seeing their friends or going for outing with their parents. Children do not like the new media or dislike the old media only for the sake of being new of old. They make their choices on the basis of how media fits into their life style. The use of media, therefore, is what concerns the children. Livingstone’s studies (2003, 2003b, 2004, 2005) on children’s use of the Internet show that nearly all children and young people use internet most of them use it at home and schools. They also have other access points including mobile phones, digital televisions, and game consoles. The level of interest of the children in the Internet is very high and so is the risk of their exposure to undesirable content. More than half of the children Livingstone studied had seen pornography online while most of them had seen it unintentionally. They sometimes see pornographic pop-ups while doing something else or receive porn junk mail. The Internet thus makes children more vulnerable to such materials than television, videos or magazines. Children also have a high risk of receiving sexual or unwanted comments through emails, chat-rooms or text messages. Some children also give away personal information to strangers they are talking to on line. The risk of meeting people they don’t know is also high. Livingstone and Bober’s studies (2004, 2005) reveal that the internet is used by most of the children as a vital information resource to complete their school work, they feel it extremely useful tool for their homework completion. Livingstone’s studies also reveal that most of the children do not receive appropriate training and they have to learn the use of Internet through trial-and-error. Conclusion The new media is changing lives and it has posed numberless questions about how it influences the self identity, social and cultural values, and habits of its users, especially the children users. The new media theorists lay bare the impact of the Internet and other digital technologies by pointing out that the Internet has its own social and cultural spaces, its value as an interactive tool of socialization and education is undeniable. Sonia Livingstone’s studies in this regard provide a wealth of information about children’s use of the Internet and its positive and negative impact on them. However, Livingstone’s definition of the new media needs some modification since the use of television, newspapers, magazines, books and other traditional media should also be included in the realm of the new media. These traditional media still occupy a great deal of children’s time. Livingstone may also consider the significance of capitalistic and corporate influences on formulation of today’s media information data bases. Livingstone’s theories can become more valuable if she integrates idea of the market-driven nature of today’s media, pointed out by Dan Schiller (2000), in her new media theory. References Barlow, D 2005, ‘Conceptions of access and participation in Australian community radio stations,’ in NW Jankowski (with O Prehn) (ed.) Community Media in the Information Age: Perspectives and Prospects, Cresskill, NJ: Hamptons. Coleman, S 2001, ‘BBC Radio Ulster’s talk-back phone-in: public feedback in a divided public space’, in N.W. Jankowski (with O.Prehn) (ed.) Community Media in the Information Age: Perspectives and Prospects. Cresskill, NJ: Hamptons. Flew, T 2002, New Media: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, London, p. 13. Helsper, EJ, Bober, M & Livingstone, S 2005, ‘Active Participation or Just More Information?’ Information, Communication & Society. Jankowski, NW, 2006, ‘Creating Community with media,’ in Lievrouw and Livingston The Handbook of New Media, Updated Student Edition, London: Sage Publications Ltd. Lievrouw, LA & Livingstone, S (eds.) 2006, The Handbook of New Media, Updated Student Edition, London, Sage Publications Ltd. Livingstone, S & Bober, M 2004, ‘Taking up Opportunities? Children’s uses of the internet for education, communication and participation,’ E-Learning, 1(3), 395-419. Livingstone, S & Bober, M 2005, ‘Data Tables from ‘UK Children Go Online’, in 2005 Social Trends, London: ONS. Livingstone, S 2003, ‘Children’s Use of the Internet,’ New Media and Society, 5(2), 147-166. Livingstone, S 2003b, ‘Mediated Childhoods,’ in J. Turow and A. L. Kavanaugh (Eds.), The Wired Homestead, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Livingstone, S 2004, ‘Children Online: Consumers or citizens? ESRC/AHRBCultures of Consumption Working Paper Series. Livingstone, S 2004, ‘Media Literacy and the Challenge of New Information and Communication Technologies,’ Communication Review, vol. 7, pp. 3-14. Livingstone, S 2004b, ‘The Challenge of Changing Audiences,’ European Journal of Communication, vol. 19(1), pp. 75-86. Livingstone, S 2005, ‘Mediating the Public/private Boundary at Home: Childrens Use of the Internet for Privacy and Participation, Journal of Media Practice, vol. 6, pp. 41-51 Livingstone, S 2005, ‘Mediating the Public/Private Boundary at Home: Children’s use of the internet for privacy and participation’ Journal of Media Practice, vol. 6(1), pp. 41-51. Livingstone, S, & Bober, M 2004, ‘Taking up opportunities? Childrens uses of the internet for education, communication and participation,’ E-Learning, vol. 1(3), pp. 395-419. Manovich, L 2003, ‘New Media From Borges to HTML,’ The New Media Reader, Ed., Noah Wardrip-Fruin & Nick Montfort, Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp. 13-25. Mitchell 2001, ‘On Air/Off-Air: defining women’s radio space in European women’s community radio’, in N.W. Jankowski (with O.Prehn) (ed.), Community Media in the Information Age: Perspectives and Prospects, Cresskill, NJ: Hampton. Read More