Jenkins writes about convergence culture in which the audience becomes the user. New media has change the identity of the user so that the capitalists and economically interested groups can make use of the participation of the user to create content. In the past, people were merely witnesses of information sent through media and it has now developed into such an interactive and wide scale that the masses can easily include themselves and become producers of online content and information as well. One example of how such a change is made use of is YouTube where most of its content is user created and produced. It merely stands at a platform on which people can share and find video content.
Bolter and Grusin focus on the idea of immediacy, hypermediacy and remediation. Immediacy can be linked to the idea of the spectacle, shock effect and also distraction. It aims to create an ‘interfaceless interface’ where the user loses their awareness of the medium and become drawn in and only focus on the content that is contained or projected. Hypermediacy, on the other hand, meand that the user is in fact aware of the medium and use the functions of the interface to further enhance their experience. An example of a medium that contains both immediacy and hypermediacy would be online video conferencing on Skype. While the sounds, movements and speech of the other person appears to be ‘live’, ‘immediate’ and physically close, the text box where one can type in and chat reminds the user of the presence of the medium. It works in a well crafted mix of both so that it draws in the user but at the same time present them with various options in terms of communication. The idea of remediation is in line with McLuhan’s idea that “the medium is the message’ and that all media contain other forms of media. It reminds us that there is never a single piece of media that is independent from the rest and that media will continue to merge and evolve in the same ways that it has before.
Ong Yan Ting
Jenkins talked about the idea of a convergence culture, whereby there is a flow of content across multimedia platforms, with the intent to interact with other media instead of replacing them. With producers colluding to create content and conglomerates getting bigger, there is more horizontal integration of media. For example, the Harry Potter saga, it started out with the books, then came the movies, toys and video games. Today, there is even a theme park based on it and people are still very much into it through social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, where fans can share quotes, screenshots, fanfictions, and even parodies of the famous series.
Kittler talks about the cultural shift of media, and how it affects the way users see and relate to the content. It shows that ‘the medium is the message’, when media change leads to culture shift. Such as email being an instant form of communication in the past, while it certainly would not be today with texting and whatsapp offering a more instantaneous communication means. Or how reading a book got so much easier with the use of ebooks such that it allows more efficient multi-tasking such as reading while walking or eating. Also, he talks about how old media is not made obsolete with new media because new media is a representation of old media, but in different forms. Newspapers and books can be scanned and uploaded onto the Internet, and they exists as data files.
Bolter and Grusin talks about immediacy and hypermediacy. Immediacy is when users try to pretend that mediation does not exists and succeeds when people cannot see the interface and its technicality. An example of this would be the full-screen mode, whereby users are able to view videos that occupy the whole screen and pretend that the other parts of the computer do not exist. Yet, hypermediacy exists in that moment when you can exit the full screen mode and return to the interface and the controls of the media is visible, to pause it, control the volume and other actions.
Tham E-lyn
Jenkins outlines convergence culture to be a collective meaning-making process. He acknowledges the prominent role of the consumer, alluding to the changing producer-consumer dynamics. Consumers are now able to give their input and discuss the media presented to them, in the process altering the very nature of the product. Convergence culture has high inclusivity as well. Jenkins repeatedly emphasises the word “every” – “In the world of media convergence, every important story gets told, every brand gets sold, and every consumer gets courted across multiple media platforms.” The word “every” is repeated thrice in just one sentence, emphasising the ubiquitous nature of convergence culture, and how it pervasively includes each and every element. The same content of media flows across different platforms – we can watch the same video online from our laptop, from our handphone, or from our ipad. Consumers are able to shape the resulting content. Jenkins identifies two different aspects – Extension and Synergy. Extension occurs when this media is moved across different platforms; Synergy occurs when producers are able to collaborate and collude to produce and distribute this very content. The role of the producers are not only undermined with the growing power of consumers, but instead it grows – the producers are able to control the content, as well as the flow of the media from one platform to another.
One main point brought across by the readings is that old media is not replaced by new media; instead, it is reshaped, it is repackaged, but it does not disappear. The medium does not get eroded, it’s the delivery technologies that evolve. For example, the medium of sound used to be disseminated through video tapes, now it’s found just by the click of a button. Similarly, technical media is something that has always existed. It has always been there, it has just been reshaped and represented.
Botler and Grusin addresses the two notions of immediacy and hypermediacy. Immediacy tries to pretend that mediation does not happen; steps are taken to ensure that the viewer gains a first hand experience. Immediacy is present not only in new media, but in old media as well (such as painting). Hypermediacy brings into question the issue of multiplicity, where consumers are able to gain multiple access across different forms of media.
Goh Xi Hsien
Jenkins saw convergence as “the flow of content across multiple media platforms”, in which old media converges with new media. He illustrates this in his discussion of the Matrix phenomenon. The causal viewer perhaps does not realize he is only seeing part of the story because to experience it fully, one must also have seen all issues of the comic, the anime cartoon, navigated through the website and played the video game. This led to another type of convergence in the form of a fanbase, whom participates in the creation of the phenomenon, by writing fictions, create their own short movies, etc.
The rise of the internet has given allowed many people to broadcast any information, or partake in TV shows, live tweets for example, which contrasts to McLuhan’s theories of how the medium largely dictates the message, Jenkins argues that it is now in the hands of the people through collective intelligence.
Similarly, Bolter and Grusin do not separate old media from new media, instead, they offered a theory of “remediation”, by refashioning old media. The double logic of remediation encompasses “immediacy” and “hypermediacy”. “Immediacy” refers to the users’ desire in wanting an immediate connection with the medium, without having to notice the presence of an interface, an “interfaceless interface” as Bolter and Grusin terms it. “The logic of hypermediacy acknowledges multiple acts of representation and makes them visible.” The interface is visible to the user, and it allows for multiple windows, for example to computer. An example would be CNN news coverage of war, on one hand, provides live reports that take the viewer to the scene, while at the same time, reports are framed by a TV window on the screen with the studio broadcaster interviewing the reporter on site.
yeow xinyin christy
Kittler discusses the history of communication media as in the form of information media. He divides the history of communication media into two main blocks, (1) Writing and (2) Technical Media. With the Gutenberg’s invention of printing, he argues that new media does not make old media obsolete but assign them other places in the system. The transition to the printing press is an industrial revolution of writing. Technical media is distinguished by their use of processes that are much faster than human perception. Since the Edison’s light bulb, information is open to any kind of amplification and manipulation. The electrification of sensory input data enabled entertainment industries to combine analog storage media with one another and later, transmission media. Digitization performs like an alphabets on a numerical basis.
Bolter and Grusin’s idea that the ultimate purpose of media is to transfer sense experiences from one another contrasts with Mcluhan’s “the medium is the message”. The authors question if media is more effective when they erase themselves (immediacy) or put forward the fact that the user is engaged in a mediated experience (hypermediacy). The tension arises between immediacy and hypermediacy as immediacy cannot be achieved through a single medium and a fusion through the process of remediation is required. This requires an overlap between the old media and the new media, providing new ways to present the same information while providing a new sensory experience. On the other hand, hypermediacy hinders immediacy because its nature reminds the user of the means in which the information is conveyed. The authors also states that remediation is a defining characteristic of new digital media.
Tiffany Goh
The theorists this week placed emphasis on the cultural and social implications of the development of media in today’s society. Jenkins observes how convergence culture is constantly evolving, changing both the way media is produced and also the way media is consumed. Bolter and Grusin offers insight into the representation of new digital media- remediation while Kittler traces the history of communication and information which has helped shape technical media in modern society.
Henry Jenkins theorized “convergence” which is the “flow of content across multiple media platforms”. In the past, the old idea of convergence was the merger of all devices into one central device that did everything for the consumer. An example that Jenkins gives is the universal remote. Convergence in the contemporary sense, however, suggests that there is “no single black box that controls the media”. The proliferation of channels and advanced digital infrastructure has allowed media content to be spread across many platforms. The convergence culture then, according to media industry insiders are marked by 3 important processes. They are “extension”, “synergy” and “franchise”. “Extension” refers to the efforts of media companies in expanding the potential markets by moving content across different delivery systems. “Synergy” refers to the “economic opportunities represented by their ability to own and control all of these manifestations and lastly “franchise” refers to the coordinated effort to brand and market fictional content under these new conditions. This is exemplified by successful reality television franchises such as “Survivor” and “American Idol”. Media convergence is at the same time, shaping consumer-producer relationships. There is more complicity in the consumer-producer dynamics today. Consumers play a more participatory role in media consumption while media conglomerates find it easier to disseminate propaganda through various channels. Active participation would include spoilers- from the knowledge communities who pool knowledge to uncover the series’ secrets before they are revealed on air. By watching Survivor, the media company is also able invite the audience into the brand community. There is thus, a cultural shift and media companies have helped to shape the cultural and social practices amongst consumers.
Bolter and Grusin’s article on “Remediation” highlights their interests on the representation of media. Immediacy, a style of presentation where a medium attempts to make itself transparent, is increasingly desired. To achieve immediacy, computer scientists try to foster a “sense of presence”, an “interfaceless” interface where the viewer comes close to experiencing reality in a virtual realm, ie. virtual reality. Earlier strategies include linear perspective painting, photography and film. More contemporary examples include flight simulators, holograms. Hypermediacy, on the other hand, is the proliferation of media foregrounding the fact that it is a mediated experience. It offers a heterogeneous space where multiplicity of windows for example, can be opened on a desktop. The “windowed” interface ensures that the user is reminded that he/she is having a mediated experience. New digital media offers a combination of both hypermediacy and immediacy- ie. remediation. All attempts at the real are representational.
The last theorist for this week is Kittler. He focuses on the technical aspects of media. The age of digital technology has allowed for human thoughts to be transferred into numerical functions and altered our orientation of work and time through higher speeds of processing. Media shifts therefore, affect cultural shifts and the scale and extent in which we experience media.
lucy molloy
The key concepts that emerge are the new way in which information is being accessed and there is a shift from passive reception to active interaction with media and mediums.
In addition, previously the general public were receiving forms of culture in a more pure form- pure as in the sense of ideologically pure. So the production team of a Hollywood blockbuster would market their product in the way that they dictated, free from immediate criticism or public discourse. This facilitated ‘cult’ followings of films such as Harry Potter. Where fans were actively wholly engaged in the fantasy that J.K Rowling and then Warner Brothers presented to them.
However, as was touched on in the lecture. Due to the new wave of participatory media experience it is now longer possible to create this product; which the consumer buys into without active questioning.
There is a more fragmented process through which consumers receive the products.
The film may be recommended by a friend over coffee.
Or an indirect recommendation by glancing at a random tweet and so on and so forth.
These recommendations will not come with the critical reception that is officially sanctioned by the marketing team E.G. Timeout ‘sensational, 5*s’.
They will come with more personalised and local criticisms e.g.
‘The lead actress is well fit, worth watching’
‘ <3 watching this after a long day at work’
‘Worst film ever, can’t believe it made 100mil at the boxoffice’
These critical receptions are more nuanced and do not necessarily conform to the critical rubric that journalists would use. In respect of this, they are potentially less viable but also more realistic. Demythologised, jargon-less opinions have their uses. A recommendation from a peer is more nuanced because you may know that you have a similar taste to that person, or have shared values so you trust their opinion. Critics and lifestyle magazines served this purpose as the official guru or the authority of taste to their target audience.
This ‘authority of taste’ is now more destabilised and decentralised. In political terms it is as if culture has gone from a top down, unitary system
to a bottom up consensual model.
This is both for distribution and critical reception.
The new wave of media is moving into a system of
F
I
L
T
E
R
S
These filters will be based on taste.
The market for information is saturated, so people are increasingly demanding more focused and clearly categorised nuggets of information.
Immediacy. Accuracy. Taste .
Will continue to shape new(er) forms of media.
Frances Tan
According to Kittler, the reason why the history of communication media is often overlooked is because of the prominence of the information systems. Communication media can be reformulated in terms of information theory, that is information, persons and goods. Shannon’s formal model of information is made up of 5 stages: message, transmitter, channel, receivers, and address. This is considered lacking since it does not consider the history of the media. How does it evolve? In trying to tackle this, Kittler describes this process of evolution via writing and technical media (lacking code of workaday language and with processes that can be formulated in mathematical terms and are faster than human perception).
“New media do not make old media obsolete; they assign them other places in the system”. This is a point that is repeated in the other readings. Kittler has a little criticism of generalized assumptions about how the circulatory function of media contributed to the undermining of the old power system of Europe. I would like to highlight the idea that the breakdown of the alphabet contributed to the ability of computers to comprehend other media and subject their data to processes.
Bolter and Grusin talks about remediation. Key terms within this article are: immediacy, hypermediacy, genealogy (Foucault), reality and representation, linear perspective, erasure, automaticity, perspective (as seeing through), transparency… Remediation is also discussed as at least 4 different ways of understanding.
Jenkins talks about convergence culture, participatory culture and collective intelligence. The emphasis is on human actors and social relations rather than the technical features of media and technologies, unlike Kittler’s article.
rebecca quek
This week’s readings were all connected by their focus on the relationship between old and new media.
I think the Jenkins reading is particularly interesting, when he talks about the convegence of media platforms and the consequences of this within a social cultural context. The point of interaction between user and media is fascinating, as it points out a sense of agency on part of the user to interpret and use these objects in the way that they choose, unlike how the Frankfurt school previously defined mass media and its consumers as uncritical in accepting what the culture industry had to offer.
An example that this reminds me of is the Stars Wars fandom, and its tensions between the community and George Lukas, who was strict in usage of images and characters in the Star Wars cannon, and rejected how the Stars Wars community retold the Star Wars. It is interesting to note the tensions between how media producers from the culture industry want their ideas to be interpreted, and how the convergence of media, and the ease through which media objects such as fan fiction, meets, fan drawings, have deviated from the original norm. This highlights a criticality on the part of fans and consumers of the media to transform or reinvent certain media objects. Jenkins talks about this in another book about fans as textual poachers. I believe that without convergence of media platforms, this form of media consumption could not have existed.
Lee Cheong Khi
Jenkins discusses the concept of media convergence which means “the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want.” He was trying to make the case that media convergence should not be taken as just a “technological process” but a “cultural shift” as interactions between consumers and producers of media becomes more complex and blurred. In the shift that he was analyzing, he was careful to make his point without making it seem like old media has passed and new media has taken over the role of the traditional and past. He urges that instead of the passing of old media, old and new media are constantly in relation with each other as the new media depends a lot on the old media, even today. For instance, the Internet cannot be the only source where one gets their daily news. Newspapers and television are important sources are perhaps provide slightly more credibility than the Internet these days are Internet users in recent years find it difficult to decipher if a piece of news is reliable or not. As such, old and new media need to work together to provide the most accurate information to disseminate to the masses.
Such an argument about the interaction between old and new media is also similar to that of Kittler’s. He argues that new media “do not make old media obsolete; they assign them other places in the system.” This brings me back to the previous example of daily news. Twitter acts an essential tool for The Straits Times, Singapore to pass down first-hand news that happens in the country. It promises efficiency and almost immediacy. Now, it might seem that the print version becomes outdated as it does not provide the immediacy of news new media offers, which is what most people active in new media are looking out for. However, it should be understood that the old media, like news prints are important as it provide a detailed analysis and examination that lacked in Twitter. Comparing it with the digital version of the news, newspapers are more “user friendly” as readers can simply find the various sections within the day by flipping through the news. Digital versions required users to navigate with the various buttons and there are too many news to focus on by just visiting the webpage. Moreover, the radio caters to drivers who would want to know first hand news but are unable to read while they are driving. As such, old and new media are capable to providing a better experience for consumers as it cater to various needs and wants. Old media does not necessarily go outdated.
Khrisha Chatterji
I think that the authors of this week’s readings, Kittler, Bolter and Grusin and Jenkins, all agree that media has gone/is going through a process of change. The idea of looking at old media and new media separately, I would think, is discouraged by all the authors and should be looked at together and as something evolving.
Kittler sees this process in historical terms where he focused specifically on communications media. He sees the history of communications media as having two areas – (1) writing and (2) technical media which have influenced the way we communicate and interact. The developments in writing, access to writing, methods of reading, access to reading, distribution of reading materials, etc. have socio-cultural impacts not just in record keeping.
Bolter and Grusin, like Kittler, see media as having gone through a history, a genealogy. In this genealogy, they claim that there are traits of immediacy, hypermediacy and remediation. They illustrate how media has gone from wanting immediacy (like providing a sense of presence for the viewers influencing them to forget about mediating technologies) and then moving onto hypermediacy and then to a position of remediation (where old media and new media interact). According to Bolter and Grusin, “all mediation is remediation” and that remediation offers us a means of interpreting the work of earlier media. Old and new media can remediate one another and it can be seen as the (1) mediation of mediation, (2) inseparability of mediation and realtion and can be thought of as (3) reform.
Jenkins focused on convergence as key to explaining media change. For him, the delivery systems of media can change all the time but media has remained the same as it is considered a cultural system. The key to understanding media is through understanding how old media and new media have converged (similar stance taken by Bolter and Grusin). Convergence can be thought of as a process of change. It is about how old concepts have taken on new meanings, how consumers and businesses are shaping the relationship among themselves and the media industry, conditions of such a convergence, etc. It is very much a look at impacts on the relationship between media and its stakeholders.
Annabel Su
The readings this week focus on the interdependency of old and new media. Jenkins labels such and overlap as media convergence and is against the notion that convergence is solely a technological process that gathers multiple media functions within same devices. Instead he posits that convergence represents a cultural shift because consumers are encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content. Convergence alters the relationships between existing technologies, industries, genres, and audiences. It also changes the logic by which media industries operate and how media audiences process entertainment and news. Convergence is a means to an end/process and not an end in itself. Hence, it impacts how content is created and consumed. As old media gets obsolete, it is forced to coexist with emerging mediums. Essentially, convergence involves the way social interactions are carried out and influences how we perform our social roles. Consumers of new media are thus treated as active, as opposed to passive, and this can be thought about in relation to the dulling of criticality that some other scholars have posited about the effects of media on consumers. In all, Jenkins maintains that convergence has resulted in a strong participatory culture that changed the dynamics of the public sphere. This can relate to the importance of looking at how new media changes the public sphere (Habermas)
Bolter and Grusin also maintain a notion of interdependency of old and new media that’s similar to Jenkins. But instead of labeling it, a convergence, they conceptualize it as a remediation where an older medium is represented/refashioned in a newer medium.
Jenkins writes about convergence culture in which the audience becomes the user. New media has change the identity of the user so that the capitalists and economically interested groups can make use of the participation of the user to create content. In the past, people were merely witnesses of information sent through media and it has now developed into such an interactive and wide scale that the masses can easily include themselves and become producers of online content and information as well. One example of how such a change is made use of is YouTube where most of its content is user created and produced. It merely stands at a platform on which people can share and find video content.
Bolter and Grusin focus on the idea of immediacy, hypermediacy and remediation. Immediacy can be linked to the idea of the spectacle, shock effect and also distraction. It aims to create an ‘interfaceless interface’ where the user loses their awareness of the medium and become drawn in and only focus on the content that is contained or projected. Hypermediacy, on the other hand, meand that the user is in fact aware of the medium and use the functions of the interface to further enhance their experience. An example of a medium that contains both immediacy and hypermediacy would be online video conferencing on Skype. While the sounds, movements and speech of the other person appears to be ‘live’, ‘immediate’ and physically close, the text box where one can type in and chat reminds the user of the presence of the medium. It works in a well crafted mix of both so that it draws in the user but at the same time present them with various options in terms of communication. The idea of remediation is in line with McLuhan’s idea that “the medium is the message’ and that all media contain other forms of media. It reminds us that there is never a single piece of media that is independent from the rest and that media will continue to merge and evolve in the same ways that it has before.
Jenkins talked about the idea of a convergence culture, whereby there is a flow of content across multimedia platforms, with the intent to interact with other media instead of replacing them. With producers colluding to create content and conglomerates getting bigger, there is more horizontal integration of media. For example, the Harry Potter saga, it started out with the books, then came the movies, toys and video games. Today, there is even a theme park based on it and people are still very much into it through social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, where fans can share quotes, screenshots, fanfictions, and even parodies of the famous series.
Kittler talks about the cultural shift of media, and how it affects the way users see and relate to the content. It shows that ‘the medium is the message’, when media change leads to culture shift. Such as email being an instant form of communication in the past, while it certainly would not be today with texting and whatsapp offering a more instantaneous communication means. Or how reading a book got so much easier with the use of ebooks such that it allows more efficient multi-tasking such as reading while walking or eating. Also, he talks about how old media is not made obsolete with new media because new media is a representation of old media, but in different forms. Newspapers and books can be scanned and uploaded onto the Internet, and they exists as data files.
Bolter and Grusin talks about immediacy and hypermediacy. Immediacy is when users try to pretend that mediation does not exists and succeeds when people cannot see the interface and its technicality. An example of this would be the full-screen mode, whereby users are able to view videos that occupy the whole screen and pretend that the other parts of the computer do not exist. Yet, hypermediacy exists in that moment when you can exit the full screen mode and return to the interface and the controls of the media is visible, to pause it, control the volume and other actions.
Jenkins outlines convergence culture to be a collective meaning-making process. He acknowledges the prominent role of the consumer, alluding to the changing producer-consumer dynamics. Consumers are now able to give their input and discuss the media presented to them, in the process altering the very nature of the product. Convergence culture has high inclusivity as well. Jenkins repeatedly emphasises the word “every” – “In the world of media convergence, every important story gets told, every brand gets sold, and every consumer gets courted across multiple media platforms.” The word “every” is repeated thrice in just one sentence, emphasising the ubiquitous nature of convergence culture, and how it pervasively includes each and every element. The same content of media flows across different platforms – we can watch the same video online from our laptop, from our handphone, or from our ipad. Consumers are able to shape the resulting content. Jenkins identifies two different aspects – Extension and Synergy. Extension occurs when this media is moved across different platforms; Synergy occurs when producers are able to collaborate and collude to produce and distribute this very content. The role of the producers are not only undermined with the growing power of consumers, but instead it grows – the producers are able to control the content, as well as the flow of the media from one platform to another.
One main point brought across by the readings is that old media is not replaced by new media; instead, it is reshaped, it is repackaged, but it does not disappear. The medium does not get eroded, it’s the delivery technologies that evolve. For example, the medium of sound used to be disseminated through video tapes, now it’s found just by the click of a button. Similarly, technical media is something that has always existed. It has always been there, it has just been reshaped and represented.
Botler and Grusin addresses the two notions of immediacy and hypermediacy. Immediacy tries to pretend that mediation does not happen; steps are taken to ensure that the viewer gains a first hand experience. Immediacy is present not only in new media, but in old media as well (such as painting). Hypermediacy brings into question the issue of multiplicity, where consumers are able to gain multiple access across different forms of media.
Jenkins saw convergence as “the flow of content across multiple media platforms”, in which old media converges with new media. He illustrates this in his discussion of the Matrix phenomenon. The causal viewer perhaps does not realize he is only seeing part of the story because to experience it fully, one must also have seen all issues of the comic, the anime cartoon, navigated through the website and played the video game. This led to another type of convergence in the form of a fanbase, whom participates in the creation of the phenomenon, by writing fictions, create their own short movies, etc.
The rise of the internet has given allowed many people to broadcast any information, or partake in TV shows, live tweets for example, which contrasts to McLuhan’s theories of how the medium largely dictates the message, Jenkins argues that it is now in the hands of the people through collective intelligence.
Similarly, Bolter and Grusin do not separate old media from new media, instead, they offered a theory of “remediation”, by refashioning old media. The double logic of remediation encompasses “immediacy” and “hypermediacy”. “Immediacy” refers to the users’ desire in wanting an immediate connection with the medium, without having to notice the presence of an interface, an “interfaceless interface” as Bolter and Grusin terms it. “The logic of hypermediacy acknowledges multiple acts of representation and makes them visible.” The interface is visible to the user, and it allows for multiple windows, for example to computer. An example would be CNN news coverage of war, on one hand, provides live reports that take the viewer to the scene, while at the same time, reports are framed by a TV window on the screen with the studio broadcaster interviewing the reporter on site.
Kittler discusses the history of communication media as in the form of information media. He divides the history of communication media into two main blocks, (1) Writing and (2) Technical Media. With the Gutenberg’s invention of printing, he argues that new media does not make old media obsolete but assign them other places in the system. The transition to the printing press is an industrial revolution of writing. Technical media is distinguished by their use of processes that are much faster than human perception. Since the Edison’s light bulb, information is open to any kind of amplification and manipulation. The electrification of sensory input data enabled entertainment industries to combine analog storage media with one another and later, transmission media. Digitization performs like an alphabets on a numerical basis.
Bolter and Grusin’s idea that the ultimate purpose of media is to transfer sense experiences from one another contrasts with Mcluhan’s “the medium is the message”. The authors question if media is more effective when they erase themselves (immediacy) or put forward the fact that the user is engaged in a mediated experience (hypermediacy). The tension arises between immediacy and hypermediacy as immediacy cannot be achieved through a single medium and a fusion through the process of remediation is required. This requires an overlap between the old media and the new media, providing new ways to present the same information while providing a new sensory experience. On the other hand, hypermediacy hinders immediacy because its nature reminds the user of the means in which the information is conveyed. The authors also states that remediation is a defining characteristic of new digital media.
The theorists this week placed emphasis on the cultural and social implications of the development of media in today’s society. Jenkins observes how convergence culture is constantly evolving, changing both the way media is produced and also the way media is consumed. Bolter and Grusin offers insight into the representation of new digital media- remediation while Kittler traces the history of communication and information which has helped shape technical media in modern society.
Henry Jenkins theorized “convergence” which is the “flow of content across multiple media platforms”. In the past, the old idea of convergence was the merger of all devices into one central device that did everything for the consumer. An example that Jenkins gives is the universal remote. Convergence in the contemporary sense, however, suggests that there is “no single black box that controls the media”. The proliferation of channels and advanced digital infrastructure has allowed media content to be spread across many platforms. The convergence culture then, according to media industry insiders are marked by 3 important processes. They are “extension”, “synergy” and “franchise”. “Extension” refers to the efforts of media companies in expanding the potential markets by moving content across different delivery systems. “Synergy” refers to the “economic opportunities represented by their ability to own and control all of these manifestations and lastly “franchise” refers to the coordinated effort to brand and market fictional content under these new conditions. This is exemplified by successful reality television franchises such as “Survivor” and “American Idol”. Media convergence is at the same time, shaping consumer-producer relationships. There is more complicity in the consumer-producer dynamics today. Consumers play a more participatory role in media consumption while media conglomerates find it easier to disseminate propaganda through various channels. Active participation would include spoilers- from the knowledge communities who pool knowledge to uncover the series’ secrets before they are revealed on air. By watching Survivor, the media company is also able invite the audience into the brand community. There is thus, a cultural shift and media companies have helped to shape the cultural and social practices amongst consumers.
Bolter and Grusin’s article on “Remediation” highlights their interests on the representation of media. Immediacy, a style of presentation where a medium attempts to make itself transparent, is increasingly desired. To achieve immediacy, computer scientists try to foster a “sense of presence”, an “interfaceless” interface where the viewer comes close to experiencing reality in a virtual realm, ie. virtual reality. Earlier strategies include linear perspective painting, photography and film. More contemporary examples include flight simulators, holograms. Hypermediacy, on the other hand, is the proliferation of media foregrounding the fact that it is a mediated experience. It offers a heterogeneous space where multiplicity of windows for example, can be opened on a desktop. The “windowed” interface ensures that the user is reminded that he/she is having a mediated experience. New digital media offers a combination of both hypermediacy and immediacy- ie. remediation. All attempts at the real are representational.
The last theorist for this week is Kittler. He focuses on the technical aspects of media. The age of digital technology has allowed for human thoughts to be transferred into numerical functions and altered our orientation of work and time through higher speeds of processing. Media shifts therefore, affect cultural shifts and the scale and extent in which we experience media.
The key concepts that emerge are the new way in which information is being accessed and there is a shift from passive reception to active interaction with media and mediums.
In addition, previously the general public were receiving forms of culture in a more pure form- pure as in the sense of ideologically pure. So the production team of a Hollywood blockbuster would market their product in the way that they dictated, free from immediate criticism or public discourse. This facilitated ‘cult’ followings of films such as Harry Potter. Where fans were actively wholly engaged in the fantasy that J.K Rowling and then Warner Brothers presented to them.
However, as was touched on in the lecture. Due to the new wave of participatory media experience it is now longer possible to create this product; which the consumer buys into without active questioning.
There is a more fragmented process through which consumers receive the products.
The film may be recommended by a friend over coffee.
Or an indirect recommendation by glancing at a random tweet and so on and so forth.
These recommendations will not come with the critical reception that is officially sanctioned by the marketing team E.G. Timeout ‘sensational, 5*s’.
They will come with more personalised and local criticisms e.g.
‘The lead actress is well fit, worth watching’
‘ <3 watching this after a long day at work’
‘Worst film ever, can’t believe it made 100mil at the boxoffice’
These critical receptions are more nuanced and do not necessarily conform to the critical rubric that journalists would use. In respect of this, they are potentially less viable but also more realistic. Demythologised, jargon-less opinions have their uses. A recommendation from a peer is more nuanced because you may know that you have a similar taste to that person, or have shared values so you trust their opinion. Critics and lifestyle magazines served this purpose as the official guru or the authority of taste to their target audience.
This ‘authority of taste’ is now more destabilised and decentralised. In political terms it is as if culture has gone from a top down, unitary system
to a bottom up consensual model.
This is both for distribution and critical reception.
The new wave of media is moving into a system of
F
I
L
T
E
R
S
These filters will be based on taste.
The market for information is saturated, so people are increasingly demanding more focused and clearly categorised nuggets of information.
Immediacy. Accuracy. Taste .
Will continue to shape new(er) forms of media.
According to Kittler, the reason why the history of communication media is often overlooked is because of the prominence of the information systems. Communication media can be reformulated in terms of information theory, that is information, persons and goods. Shannon’s formal model of information is made up of 5 stages: message, transmitter, channel, receivers, and address. This is considered lacking since it does not consider the history of the media. How does it evolve? In trying to tackle this, Kittler describes this process of evolution via writing and technical media (lacking code of workaday language and with processes that can be formulated in mathematical terms and are faster than human perception).
“New media do not make old media obsolete; they assign them other places in the system”. This is a point that is repeated in the other readings. Kittler has a little criticism of generalized assumptions about how the circulatory function of media contributed to the undermining of the old power system of Europe. I would like to highlight the idea that the breakdown of the alphabet contributed to the ability of computers to comprehend other media and subject their data to processes.
Bolter and Grusin talks about remediation. Key terms within this article are: immediacy, hypermediacy, genealogy (Foucault), reality and representation, linear perspective, erasure, automaticity, perspective (as seeing through), transparency… Remediation is also discussed as at least 4 different ways of understanding.
Jenkins talks about convergence culture, participatory culture and collective intelligence. The emphasis is on human actors and social relations rather than the technical features of media and technologies, unlike Kittler’s article.
This week’s readings were all connected by their focus on the relationship between old and new media.
I think the Jenkins reading is particularly interesting, when he talks about the convegence of media platforms and the consequences of this within a social cultural context. The point of interaction between user and media is fascinating, as it points out a sense of agency on part of the user to interpret and use these objects in the way that they choose, unlike how the Frankfurt school previously defined mass media and its consumers as uncritical in accepting what the culture industry had to offer.
An example that this reminds me of is the Stars Wars fandom, and its tensions between the community and George Lukas, who was strict in usage of images and characters in the Star Wars cannon, and rejected how the Stars Wars community retold the Star Wars. It is interesting to note the tensions between how media producers from the culture industry want their ideas to be interpreted, and how the convergence of media, and the ease through which media objects such as fan fiction, meets, fan drawings, have deviated from the original norm. This highlights a criticality on the part of fans and consumers of the media to transform or reinvent certain media objects. Jenkins talks about this in another book about fans as textual poachers. I believe that without convergence of media platforms, this form of media consumption could not have existed.
Jenkins discusses the concept of media convergence which means “the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want.” He was trying to make the case that media convergence should not be taken as just a “technological process” but a “cultural shift” as interactions between consumers and producers of media becomes more complex and blurred. In the shift that he was analyzing, he was careful to make his point without making it seem like old media has passed and new media has taken over the role of the traditional and past. He urges that instead of the passing of old media, old and new media are constantly in relation with each other as the new media depends a lot on the old media, even today. For instance, the Internet cannot be the only source where one gets their daily news. Newspapers and television are important sources are perhaps provide slightly more credibility than the Internet these days are Internet users in recent years find it difficult to decipher if a piece of news is reliable or not. As such, old and new media need to work together to provide the most accurate information to disseminate to the masses.
Such an argument about the interaction between old and new media is also similar to that of Kittler’s. He argues that new media “do not make old media obsolete; they assign them other places in the system.” This brings me back to the previous example of daily news. Twitter acts an essential tool for The Straits Times, Singapore to pass down first-hand news that happens in the country. It promises efficiency and almost immediacy. Now, it might seem that the print version becomes outdated as it does not provide the immediacy of news new media offers, which is what most people active in new media are looking out for. However, it should be understood that the old media, like news prints are important as it provide a detailed analysis and examination that lacked in Twitter. Comparing it with the digital version of the news, newspapers are more “user friendly” as readers can simply find the various sections within the day by flipping through the news. Digital versions required users to navigate with the various buttons and there are too many news to focus on by just visiting the webpage. Moreover, the radio caters to drivers who would want to know first hand news but are unable to read while they are driving. As such, old and new media are capable to providing a better experience for consumers as it cater to various needs and wants. Old media does not necessarily go outdated.
I think that the authors of this week’s readings, Kittler, Bolter and Grusin and Jenkins, all agree that media has gone/is going through a process of change. The idea of looking at old media and new media separately, I would think, is discouraged by all the authors and should be looked at together and as something evolving.
Kittler sees this process in historical terms where he focused specifically on communications media. He sees the history of communications media as having two areas – (1) writing and (2) technical media which have influenced the way we communicate and interact. The developments in writing, access to writing, methods of reading, access to reading, distribution of reading materials, etc. have socio-cultural impacts not just in record keeping.
Bolter and Grusin, like Kittler, see media as having gone through a history, a genealogy. In this genealogy, they claim that there are traits of immediacy, hypermediacy and remediation. They illustrate how media has gone from wanting immediacy (like providing a sense of presence for the viewers influencing them to forget about mediating technologies) and then moving onto hypermediacy and then to a position of remediation (where old media and new media interact). According to Bolter and Grusin, “all mediation is remediation” and that remediation offers us a means of interpreting the work of earlier media. Old and new media can remediate one another and it can be seen as the (1) mediation of mediation, (2) inseparability of mediation and realtion and can be thought of as (3) reform.
Jenkins focused on convergence as key to explaining media change. For him, the delivery systems of media can change all the time but media has remained the same as it is considered a cultural system. The key to understanding media is through understanding how old media and new media have converged (similar stance taken by Bolter and Grusin). Convergence can be thought of as a process of change. It is about how old concepts have taken on new meanings, how consumers and businesses are shaping the relationship among themselves and the media industry, conditions of such a convergence, etc. It is very much a look at impacts on the relationship between media and its stakeholders.
The readings this week focus on the interdependency of old and new media. Jenkins labels such and overlap as media convergence and is against the notion that convergence is solely a technological process that gathers multiple media functions within same devices. Instead he posits that convergence represents a cultural shift because consumers are encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content. Convergence alters the relationships between existing technologies, industries, genres, and audiences. It also changes the logic by which media industries operate and how media audiences process entertainment and news. Convergence is a means to an end/process and not an end in itself. Hence, it impacts how content is created and consumed. As old media gets obsolete, it is forced to coexist with emerging mediums. Essentially, convergence involves the way social interactions are carried out and influences how we perform our social roles. Consumers of new media are thus treated as active, as opposed to passive, and this can be thought about in relation to the dulling of criticality that some other scholars have posited about the effects of media on consumers. In all, Jenkins maintains that convergence has resulted in a strong participatory culture that changed the dynamics of the public sphere. This can relate to the importance of looking at how new media changes the public sphere (Habermas)
Bolter and Grusin also maintain a notion of interdependency of old and new media that’s similar to Jenkins. But instead of labeling it, a convergence, they conceptualize it as a remediation where an older medium is represented/refashioned in a newer medium.