New New Media

Out of the many books that we have read for this class I found this book to be the most interesting. Every chapter of this book talks about a medium that has to deal with what we consider to be “new media.” Much of the book discusses very current aspects of media in which we can all relate to. I became quite intrigued with the chapters that dealt with my favorite type of medium: social media.

The author begins the book by introducing us with the first forms of media, which is e-mail and the Internet. The author then begins to introduce us to what is considered to be new new media. This part of the book is significant in understanding the term remediation. Many parts of what we consider new media today were taken from earlier forms of media. We must understand that the foundation of new media was established through old media.

To get back on the topic of my favorite type of medium, I have to say that I enjoyed the chapter about “Blogging.” Being the blogger that I am, I found many points of this chapter to be appealing. The section named “Blogging About Anything, Forever” was interesting because the author spoke about how blogs lack the complete reliable locatability of books. I find that blogging is something that cannot be compared to books. Where books focus on one thought, blogging consists of many thoughts. People enjoy the idea of blogging due to the fact that you are free to talk about anything and at any moment that you want, you can delete what you have written if you don’t want anyone to read it. Durability is another issue that is dealt with in terms of books and blogging. Unlike books, you can easily access your blog through a simple connection to the Internet. What I also enjoy about blogging is the fact that not only can you write your thoughts but you can also simply post pictures and videos that interest you. This medium also allows you to interact with other people and get a glimpse of the thoughts of other bloggers. Blogging is highly popular within the new media spectrum. People are more open to talk about there thoughts more then ever. We can honestly look at bloggers as modern day journalists.

The sections that were covered about Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace clearly displays how interaction is the reason behind the evolution of such mediums. Social media is quite innovative and unique given the fact that for anything to be under the “social media” spectrum it must consist of the interactions between people within the web. Although, the three are different in terms of the way people interact, they all still give its users the opportunity to have the freedom in speaking to anyone they want. As a user of all three, I found the usage of social media is the easiest way to communicate with people from all over the world. I have friends that live in other countries and the fact that I can easily contact them through such mediums has given me a greater appreciation for this type of new media. Social media has grown to establish a foundation in the way our society communicates. The way we communicate with those around us is constantly changing. There is no guarantee that the social media we have become accustomed to now is going to be relevant to society in the next few years. Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace,YouTube, etc have become mainstream and it seems hard for the generation who has grown with them to imagine life without it.