Age of New Media - Essay Example

In all urban and many rural areas, people start their day by watching cable TV while having breakfast. While doing this, they will check their cell phones for any messages. Going to the office they will listen to mp3 music. When they get to the office, they will check their e-mails right away. Throughout the day, they will either update their blogs, read other entries in Facebook or MySpace, post entries in their online communities, buy things through online stores like Amazon.com using their credit cards, read news through online newswires, download music, or play some online games. Back home the same thing happens, open the laptop to do some work and some online surfing or online movie watching. Modern technology, specifically new media, has truly integrated itself into our daily lives. And it is not only adults that live by such lifestyle. From young children to teenagers, new media has become a way of life in the whole world. Vryzas and Tsitouridou (2002, pp. 9-17) examined how much access to home computers do children have in Greece. Of the 993 randomly chosen respondents, 305 had computers at home. These children could already make full use of the features of the computer after being taught by their older siblings or parents. The main activity that they did was play games using the computer. But they would also use other applications. Just what is new media? One definition could be “immediately suggests something far less settled [than “the media”] known, and identified…on the one hand, a rapidly changing set of formal and technological experiments and, on the other, a complex set of interactions between new technological possibilities and established media forms (Lister, 2003, p. 10-11). The term new media is so wide that it includes practically everything and anything that we use in modern times—digital, electronic, interactive, computer-mediated. And people have different concepts for the term so that “while a person using new media may have one kind of thing in mind (the Internet), others may mean something else (digital TV, new ways of imaging the body, a virtual environment or game)”, therefore the term refers to a “broad cultural resonance rather than a narrow technicist or specialist application” (Lister, 2003, p. 10-11) With all the explosion of new sites and activities using new media, especially those that can be found on the Internet, Lister’s definition encompasses a very broad range indeed. There are the social networking sites such as Facebook, Friendster, and MySpace, where people can form communities for specific topics like dog lovers or graduates of a particular school. Of course, there is the weblog or blog for short. What started out as merely online diaries have evolved into sites for TV shows or magazines or even academic journals. Blogs have become so interactive that readers can post comments on a particular blog upload, owners can put up videos or photos or any creative outputs, or even use their blogs as online stores or marketing tools for businesses. For leisure, there is the podcast, where people upload their favourite music and allow other people to download these mp3s or lectures or recorded books. When speaking of videos on the web, one “brand” comes to mind instantly—Youtube. Short videos of anything and everything are uploaded in Youtube for all the world to see. For students and researchers, there is the wikipedia. Wikis are public encyclopaedia that readers can not only use as reference but can also edit for a chance to put in better information. Then there are video games, online games, and role-playing games. Mobile phones also make up new media. So are TV shows beamed from halfway across the world via satellites. Films are being shot using digital cameras and old films are being re-mastered into digital format. At the core of this integration of new media into everyday life are codes. Thrift and French (2002, pp. 309-335) call these the “fuzzy” codes. These fuzzy codes are used to programme machines that can create their own intelligence. Fuzzy codes do not impose strict instructions into the software of machines. Rather, instructions are “based on a series of ‘writing-acts’”, which allow machines to respond and adapt to what humans want thus leading to a “fusion” of human desires and environment and machine intelligence. For example, because our daily live involve mobile technology and information, mobile phones with built-in wireless communication chips like GPRS that allows other people to track down where the owner of the phone is located at a specific moment. There are also services by mobile phone companies that allow you to receive information of special sales when you enter a mall. With this everyday mobile technology available to many, people can easily “slide” in and out of narratives (Mimi Sheller, 2004, pp. 39-52) Dodge and Kitchen (2005, pp. 851-881) explain that codes are “strings of numbers and letters tied together through a sequence of finite instructions.” Systems created by information and technology units input a unique ID on these codes to make it possible to trace and keep an eye on them. This way the codes can be classified into “identifiable knowledge.” This system of identifying and transforming technological codes into knowledge is called “capta”. Capta is derived from the Latin capere, or “to take.” The capta is being used in a wide variety of new media, from credit cards to library cards to gym cards to movie tickets to driving licences to loyalty cards, and so much more. For example, Graham and Marvin (2001, p. 241) write that the geodemographic software industry can create “detailed images of neighbourhoods (down to postcode level in the UK) with details of consumption habits, house prices, local amenities, etc. (e.g. Experian and CACI in the UK and Claritas in the USA).” It can allow business to open databases containing these detailed consumption habits in order to approach the right prospective consumers. Some people have also used geodemographic software when hunting for a good place to live. Graham and Marvin (2001, p. 241) further note that geodemographic systems can allow “rich and powerful groups associated with global firms and other transnational elites to create ‘secessionary networked spaces’ in cities; highly differentiated access to an increasing range of goods and services; and architectural, political and financial practices to separate increasingly the lives of elites from those of the poor” thus creating new types of urban zones. This new urban zones may lead to what Ellison and Burrows (2007, pp. 321-336) believe can result from geodemographic systems, that is dividing cities into specific areas for specific social classes. As Graham and Marvin noted, the system could separate the lives of the rich and poor by delegating zones where the rich rule and zones where the poor must live. Another example, a specific suburban area could be “colonised” by middle-class families by using geodemographic systems to control local services such as education, employment, and housing so that only those in a specific financial strata would be able to afford the quality of life in that area. Thus, poorer families may be unable to build a house or study in that area. Thousands of people now play online games. The old arcade games like Defender would only allow plays a limited level of interactivity. With the help of new media, gamers can take on more interactive roles as they become producers and consumers of codes at the same time. A good example of this high level of interactivity in games is the Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG). MMOGs are computer games that can be simultaneously played online by hundreds of people around the world. Any player of this type of game can create a unique character that will live, fight, amass wealth or property, and interact with other characters in the virtual world. However, unlike old games, new media games can go on so long as someone is playing it and even though some characters may be absent. Herman, Coombe, and Kaye (2006, pp. 184-210) point out an excellent example of a truly interactive MMOG, “Second Life” developed by Linden Lab. In Second Life, players become “residents” and aim to create a virtual world. Since Second Life reflects the “real” world, “residents” can interact and socialise by buying and selling goods using the currency of the virtual world, the Linden dollar. In a move to up the level of interactivity between humans and technology, Linden Lab announced in November 2003 that players of their game could have the intellectual property rights of whatever creative data they set up in Second Life. It may have looked like a move to equalise property rights between Linden Lab and game users, but that wasn’t the case at all. Although players could have control over what type of characters would thrive in the Second Life virtual world, it was still Linden Lab that controlled and owned the digital codes that the players used for their creations. That is, the gamers still needed to sign up and agree to the corporate property rights set by Linden Lab. However, despite this caveat, many players still signed up to experience this new move (Herman, Coombe, and Kaye, 2006, pp. 184-210). This issue of having control over the characters you create has been taken to a different level because of one of the most famous MMOG is EverQuest, a fantasy role-playing online game. Sara Grimes (2006, pp969-990) writes that because of the popularity of this game and the fact that some characters and their weapons had already been created before others came online, some players sold their virtual characters, weaponry, magic wands, and other virtual paraphernalia at online auction spot, eBay. This new e-commerce became so profitable that it grew into a $5m real-profit market. This new e-business was put to a halt when the owners of EverQuest, Sony Entertainment, worked with Yahoo and eBay in 2000 stopped gamers from plying this online trade. Sony also made sure that players became legally bound to take part in the whole EverQuest game experience in order to prolong individual player consumption. Cover (2004, pp. 173-191) points out that digital games showcase the conflict between owners or companies that write out the codes and the users or players of these new media. Because of the interactivity factor of online games, users are given the power to challenge the boundaries of the codes incorporated into the games by the owners. In a sense, gamers have reservations about the authority of the “voice” of the owners or writers of codes of digital games. This phenomenon has set off “democratic possibilities” for gamers. However, playing for leisure isn’t all the digital games are being used for. Ke (2008, pp. 539-556) writes that since the 1980s, people in education have been discussing the possibilities of using computer games for educational purposes. Many have published research about this, but their findings have not firmly confirmed a direct connection between improved learning results and game-based activities. Ke added another dimension to the current literature by conducting a study to determine whether current educational computer games are more effective math teaching tools than traditional paper-and-pencil activities. Ke also tried to determine whether “alternative classroom goal structures would enhance or reduce the effects of computer games.” The results showed that computer games had a significant advantage over the traditional drills in motivating students to learn. However, although games with fitting designs could have some potential in developing the cognitive and metacognitive abilities of students, findings of the study showed that the level of assistance these games provide are not significant enough to make a direct link between the students’ development and the games. Regarding the second objective of the study, findings showed that alternative classroom goal structures do influence the effectiveness of computer games on mathematical learning outcomes. Utilizing a “cooperative goal structure” rather than “competitive and individualistic structures” led to notable more favourable attitudes towards learning mathematics via computer games. Ke (2008, pp. 539-556) further suggests that the educators must focus not on the question of whether or not computer games must be used in classroom setting, but on the question of “how to better design an educational computer game” and “how to better apply game-based classroom instructional strategies” in order to better motivate students and, maybe in the future, make a conclusive link between games and students’ cognitive development. Games are not the only form of new media that educators are eyeing as tools for classroom settings. Young (2008, p. A13) reports that the National Science Foundation based in the USA has given a $500,000 grant to a project called HigherEd 2.0. This project allows professors to make use of various types of new media in order to supplement their teaching techniques and lessons. Professor Edward Berger, one professor under this grant, is an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Virginia. He has been trying out several new Web technologies such as blogs, wikipedia, and uploading of recorded lectures and experiments into the Web. These processes allow the professor to have an interactive communication with his students even outside of the classroom. For example, students can change the professor’s and fellow classmates’ entries in the wikipedia. This method of teaching seems to be quite popular since most students log on to the blogs and views their professor’s videos even though tuning into the uploads is optional and the quality is not that great. Other professors under the HigherEd 2.0 project also make use of free or low-cost software, such as those used by people to upload videos on Youtube, to create their own new media supplementary materials in as little time as one hour. The creativity of professors is also put to the test. One professor has created an animation series for her biology laboratory class using characters based on the popular TV show South Park. These videos capture the attention of students because of the youth’s tendency to be “visually-inspired.” Since these videos are usually short, the attention span of students is not an issue. Also, students can watch these videos anywhere and anytime. Because this method has increasingly become popular, some textbook companies have also begun to offer short videos as an added bonus when people buy their products. This shows the intertwining connection between established media (paper), new media (Web and video technology), and one of the most basic units of society (education). However, because of growing concern of spending too much time on the Internet, there have arisen some issues about educators using new media. Kist (2008, pp. 245–247) reports that the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Education Association have announced that “teachers shouldn’t take part in MySpace, Facebook, or other social networking sites.” Kist interviewed pre-service and new teachers regarding their reaction to this ordinance against the use of new media technology. The reactions have been mixed. One teacher fears for his career so he did not include any blog activities for his class in case one of his students posts an offensive comment and start an issue. However, most of the teachers are ignoring the warnings with reasons ranging from the fact that it is their right to use social networking sites for personal reasons, and there are benefits to participating in such sites and ways of participating without getting any bad repercussions. Social networking has become so integrated into the lives of these teachers that they “reported feeling completely cut off from their friends and family when not participating in social networking sites.” Even some principals acknowledge that they cannot stop their teachers from using these sites. So, these administrators sometimes just search through the various sites for the names of teacher-applicants or incoming teachers as part of their screening process. This surveillance procedure is not limited to educators. Many companies also make use of the Internet to hire people. And consumption patterns have also progressively relied on modes of surveillance these past years. Because new media has become so integrated into the daily lives of people all over the world, it has also become the means to get personal information of people, thus allowing information and communication technology to have a means to keep on eye on the continuing changes in buying, gaming, or even planning habits of consumers. A whole database could be created just on one person’s demographic data. Businesses all over the world recognise this shift in sales and marketing. Strategies nowadays depend on getting information on “individual intangible consumer preferences”, that is what people desire, what people dream of, what people are passionate about. By getting data on consumers, companies can create personalised advertisements targeting individual consumers. Because online shopping has become a popular way to buy things, companies dealing with e-commerce rely on online data gathering. The online shopping website Amazon.com makes it a point to ask shoppers to answer a personal profile before being able to buy something. The site also tracks down every purchase so that it can recommend other products. It can also market the same goods at different prices to different consumers. What Amazon.com has been doing implies every movement of people as they surf through cyrberspace is being monitored. Every time an individual consumes a new media merchandise such as mp3 from, for example, I-tunes, can be translated into additional data for the companies. Perhaps the most common form of new media and certainly the most integrated into everyday life is the television. Wardrip-Fruin and Montfort (2003, p. 289) quoting author Langdon Winner’s words wrote that when the television was first invented, none of the pioneers of this technology expected that years later the television would be in the homes of almost every household in the world. Also, anyone living seven decades ago would never have believed that people would spend seven hours glued in front of the television every day. But surveys have shown that people, specifically Americans, spend about eight hours watching TV. There are those who say that people can always close their TV sets. This is quite true. However, the television has carved out a firm central niche in people’s everyday lives. The television “has become the accustomed topic of conversation in workplaces, schools, and other social gatherings, it is apparent that television is a phenomenon that, in the larger sense, cannot be ‘turned off’ at all.” Wardrip-Fruin and Montfort (2003, p. 289) go on to say that once technology has been put in place, it “operates as a life factor”, that is, there are people now who can say that they cannot live without their mobile phones, or looking at their Facebook account at least once a week, or watching several hours of TV a day. And these people really mean their words because their lives have become closely integrated with that of new media. References Andrejevic, M., 2002. The World of Being Watched: Interactive Media and the Exploitation of Self-Disclosure. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 19(2): 230-248. Burrows, R. and Ellison, N., 2004. Sorting Places Out? Towards a Social Politics of Neighbourhood Informatization. Information, Communication and Society, 7(3): 321-336. Cover, R., 2004. New Media Theory: Electronic Games, Democracy and Reconfiguring the Author-Audience Relationship. Social Semiotics, 14(2): 173-191. Dodge, M. and Kitchen, R., 2005. Codes of Life: Identification and the Machine-readable World. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 23: 851-881. Graham, S. and Marvin, S., 2001. Splintering Urbanism: Networked Infrastructures, Technological Mobilities, and the Urban Condition. New York: Routledge. Grimes, S., 2006. Online Multiplayer Games: A Virtual Place for Intellectual Property Debates? New Media and Society, 8(6): 969-990. Herman, A., Coombe, R.J. and Kaye, L., 2006. Your Second Life? Goodwill and the Performativity of Intellectual Property in Online Digital Gaming. Cultural Studies, 20(2-3): 184-210. Ke, F., 2008. Computer games application within alternative classroom goal structures: cognitive, metacognitive, and affective evaluation. Education Tech Research Dev, 56:539–556. Kist, W., (2008). “I Gave Up MySpace for Lent”: New Teachers and Social Networking Sites. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(3): 245–247 Lister, M., 2003. New Media: A Critical Introduction. New York: Routledge. Sheller, M., 2004. Mobile Publics: Beyond the Network Perspective. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 22: 39-52. Thrift, N. and French, S., 2002. The Automatic Production of Space. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 27: 309-335. Vryzas K. and Tsitouridou M., 2002. The Home Computer in Childrens Everyday Life: the case of Greece. Journal of Educational Media, 27(1-2): 9-17. Wardrip-Fruin, N. & Montfort, N., (2003). The New Media Reader. Massachusetts: MIT Press Young, J.R., (2008). To Spice Up Course Work, Professors Make Their Own Videos. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 54: A13. Read More