Although media and technological platforms are increasingly diverging, the flow of contents is converging. With convergence, Jenkins suggests that the audiences play a vital role in the creation and distribution of media content. Audience participation in creating or shaping media content is evident not only in the virtual world such as creating, posting or reposting videos, articles, and music through Tumblr, Facebook, Youtube et cetera, it is also evident in traditional media.
Television corporations and content producers for example, are actively wooing audiences in online discussions regarding their shows, as well as in dramas and reality television programmes like American Idol in which audiences are encouraged to vote for the contestants they support or the version of drama ending they hope to see. Media corporations thus give audiences the illusion of choice as we are ultimately still choosing among the options made available by them (contestants A-Z or ending A or B). By giving audiences the illusion of choice, television firms stand to gain as they can generate hype in the process and protect their bottom line by securing advertisers and sponsorships.
Edwin Lee Xian Ming
Henry Jenkins’ theory on convergence is a particularly relevant one in today’s context. Indeed , much of today’s internet culture is influenced by convergence culture. From what was once regarded as a highly specialised skill (e.g. photography or videography), with producers and the associated media being distanced from the consumers, it has now become a widespread resource. Anyone with smartphone is capable of uploading user-created content on Instragram or Youtube for the online community to enjoy.
Convergence culture has led to the explosion of user-generated content, and if the popularity of youtube and instagram are to be acknowledge, they have become a key part of our social lives.
Elix Lee
According to Kittler, the digital is the end of technology. Digital allows for very blurred boundaries. Machines not only handle transmissions and data storage but are also in control of the processing of commands. Digital now allows for information and communication to happen simultaneously.
Botler is interested in mediation. Hyper media and immediate media are opposite manifestations of similar desire. The desire to get past the limits of representation and to achieve the real, not necessary the visual real but feeling as well. All attempts at the real are representations. For Jenkins, media is always a cultural and social artefact/entity.
Kelyn Phua
Within the past decade, the cell phone can do so much more than just making calls. It is an mp3, a radio, a television, a calculator, a diary and a computer all in one. Companies are constantly going to produce new technology add more functions to the current devices that we have. Even televisions today have Internet. Web accessibility grants quicker and more convenient ways for participants to interact. This many- to-many communication situation reshapes the relationship between the media producer and the consumer, as consumers have a stronger voice. However, they can only speak within the boundaries set by those in power. For example, Singaporeans who posts comments threatening racial/religious harmony may be jailed and fined.
I agree that while content converges, hardware diverges. It is common to see someone owning an iPhone, iPad, iPod, to serve different functions, when in fact an iPhone can be a combination of all 3. Or for those who prefer a larger screen, Apple could easily add the phone function to the iPad. The reason why they do not is probably because they want to earn more from their customers. On our part, we are more than willing consumers to keep up with the latest technology.
Koh Hui Yi
I would like to talk about Jenkins’s concept of convergence culture. Jenkins talks about convergence culture in a technological way. He talks about the phenomena we see today, while platforms are diverging, contents are actually converging. Convergence is the process of the bringing together of multiple media functions within the same gadgets and devices. One simple example would be that we can use Facebook, twitter, Spotify on our iPad/ tablets, computer, laptops, and even on some televisions as well. However, note the fact that platforms are increasingly diverging. Walk into any electronic stores such as Challenger, Courts and you will know what I mean. We have so many electronic gadgets that try to stand out from one another, by proclaiming that their speed processing are faster, their interfaces are much better than their competitors and they offer or any promotional messages to make themselves stand out. However, all in all, we are using them to stay connected, to surf through the same social platforms. New generations of phones, tablets and laptops emerge almost periodically every year. This also exemplify the divergence nature of gadgets in order for producers and corporations to earn money by marketing the notion that we have to “update” our gadgets in order to be relevant with the fast-paced nature of technological change, arguably another marketing tactic by corporations.
While this has help us stay connected to people online, it has also relegate less “me” time for ourselves. It is very rare for us to be able to do something else without looking at our phone, our tablets and surfing through these sites. In fact, the convergence nature of these platforms have transformed how our daily habits are. We feel lost if we don’t carry a phone with us all the time, and that is the feeling of disconnectedness. If you walk into the MRT cabin, you not only observe how people are using their phones almost all the time if they are alone. Some not only carry their phones but also their tablets to watch their shows and surf net. This nature of convergence has transformed radically how we spend our time and how and what interconnectedness mean to us. We used to think of it as a benefit but now it has become a culture to us or our second nature. So while this nature of convergence culture has relegate a participatory culture which is contrasted with the older notions of media spectatorship and encourage a collective intelligence through the online interaction and circulation of media content users have with another, at what price do we have to pay for them?
The reading from Bolter and Grusin is one which we can easily relate to in our lives today. They mentioned that all mediation is remediation and such is conspicuous in this digital age of Internet. The internet becomes the main body of media, compromising of many different medias such as photography and television. The original images are stored in the virtual database and reproduced in digital forms.
Next, the immediacy is where the media is attempting to eliminate, or else blur the line between the physical media and the experience to create a sense of “live”-ness – as if the participating party was involved in the space. It relied on the concept of “space binding” from Mc Carthy. Such immediacy can be observed in the film industry where film makers are using technologies such as 4D to create a “live” experience for the consumers, as if they were in the film itself. Another example would include the current Windows 8 which removes the frame the web browser to enhance the viewing experience.
On the other hand, hypermediacy does not attempt to do what immediacy does but instead enforces the characteristic of the media. The authors used the example of web browser to explain its function and I would like to share my experience with hypermediacy on Art. Artworks are usually framed and the frame would usually be viewed together with the artwork. However, some of the artists have attempted to draw a frame on the artwork itself to illustrate the concept of frames. When the frame becomes part of the real artwork, the hypermediacy of the artwork is being highlighted and not blended together with the frame, differentiating the work from the packaging.
Zheng Wei
I find Jenkins’ work about the convergence of media content has become more relevant as the reach of media expands. It would seem that his theory that media content will become spread out over an increasing number of media platforms is beneficial to the industry that creates these media. For example, there are many shows now that also spawn fan fictions, additional behind the scene videos and news of the programme online. Even the public, with their additional powers over media creation these days, have embraced the logic of convergence media. One example is Kickstarter, where different projects seek funding from the public. These include physical media like books or artworks. However, what is different is that the media creators can opt to include more forms based upon the original media in order to attract the die-hard fans. A movie can also come with concept art, scripts or scale model of the characters. Games may include a lore or history of the virtual world and even mimic the oft-found map of the virtual world.
Aloysius Teo
“Ready or not, we are already living with a convergence culture,” and we are often unaware that the media content that we experience daily has possibly gone through the hands of walt disney, comcast or warner brothers. These distinct and even diverse types of media and media content are converging into the ownership of few. These media conglomerates are doing a fantastic job in portraying (or producing) “diverse”media that viewers/receivers are unaware that these are actually owned by the same company (star wars and marvel are part of walt disney)
Seow Yi Min Eunice
Jenkin proposes that a participatory (consumer) culture is established with the results of increasing convergence met by media content. The consumer is not only on the receiving end, but rather contributing and communicating across the different channels. Suggested by Jenkins, a dialectical relation is formed between the masses (new media technologies resulting in both technical and social expansions) and the ownership of mainstream commercial media (increasingly concentrated within a few multinational media conglomerates). Consumers are gaining increasing awareness and control over using such technologies, whilst the media companies are increasingly expanding their markets and profitability. Such dialectical ties may sometimes result in co-existence, reinforcing each other, whilst other times resulting in a clash, bringing about a “redefinition” to the social culture.
One of the examples Jenkins had provided, was the 2004 American presidential campaign. This occurrence can be very much applicable to our local Political context too.
The “clash” in convergence (between Masses- Consumer, and the State-Producer) can be seen in the 2011 Singapore General Elections. The internet and social media platforms (i.e. Facebook, twitter) had opened up a source of independent information, with participating consumers using it to voice out their (mostly unhappy) opinions, and spreading possible forms of political ideologies. This has resulted in a clash with the Producers- the regulating State, whereby despite having formal legal ownership over the local media platforms (i.e. MDA), they were unable to tightly regulate or control the spread of “unwanted” information, as compared to traditional media. This resulting in the fall of PAP votes, from 67% to 60.1%. Thus, bringing about the “redefinition” to the social culture. The manifestations of popular culture, can be seen to have “redefined” the relationship between the State and the Masses. This can be seen in the symbolical virtual Coexistence now constructed between the Public and the State (i.e. in an attempt to keep up with times and to also curb worsening Public dissatisfactions, has opted for such social media platforms too, to communicate with the public)
The issues faced? Despite efforts made to coexist and to reinforce each other, the internet is still being used as a platform to vent their frustrations. The participatory culture, allowed for the blurring of lines between gaining “political awareness” versus “having (specific) anti-PAP sentiments”. Distinguishing between objective information and personal dissent is becoming increasingly difficult. Especially when the media platform requires for interaction between parties, where different perspectives are bound to be exchanged. Consumers thus, should be made aware of such forms of participation, and know when to draw the boundaries (i.e. not be so easily influenced ) Cultivating an objective participating consumer culture, along with a socially regulated State/Producer ownership (i.e. State is constantly working to serve their social audience) would be more beneficial, and effective to both parties.
Audrey
Friedrich Kittler delves into the history of communication firstly by defining what an information system is, through three characteristics. Firstly, the message that is meant to reach a recipient, should garner reaction. Next, people are not objects, but addresses. The example given in lecture was that a road traffic fine does not get sent to an individual (where there is some form of interaction between sender and recipient), but it is sent to an address – in which there is a somewhat dehumanizing of this process. Lastly, goods represent data – there is no value-free object. The example cited in lecture was that while consumers listen to a song on the computer, the computer does not read it as a song, but reads it as data.
Kittler then states that information systems are part of communication systems, and that the digital allows for information and communication to happen at the same time, and also allows for the decoupling of information and communication. He then drew an example of decoupling from the telegraph: massless flow of electromagnetic waves from the communication message.
The content of a medium is always another medium, for example, speech is the medium for ideas, and writing is a medium for speech.
He then stresses that new media “do not make old media obsolute”. Instead, it may be seen as though new media carries old media on it’s back. An example that illustrates this would be how most newspapers have a large online presence. While traditional papers are still sold at newstands, or are still subscribed, newspapers utilize social media platforms like Twitter to publish breaking news – which they could not do previously. Now, news is not off-stoned at a certain timing when it goes to print. News is updated every other minute online. However, the online space does not replace newspapers. Instead, readers to read the full version of the piece of news through the newspaper, hence, encourages readership of a particular newspaper.
Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin discuss the twin logic, or paradox of remediation, which involves immediacy and hypermediacy.
While immediacy stems from the ideology of ‘seamlessness’, or the deception of ‘liveness’, it’s very purpose has to be supported by sophisticated technology. Plainly speaking, to create the most ‘life-like’ experience, with all elimination of the consciousness of the medium, elaborate technology is used to create such effects. An example could be films shot in high-definition cameras, where film-makers aspire to immerse audiences so much into the film and believe in its “realness”, that they utilize complicated technology to achieve the effect.
Immediacy strives to bring the least attention to the medium, by hypermediacy shows a medium’s mediation. Digital mediacy is able to incorporate both immediacy and hypermediacy.
As Henry Jenkins explains the convergence of media, he gives a self-deprecating anecdote of how when he wanted to buy a cell phone, he couldn’t find one which was just a phone – most phones came with other features like a camera, an mp3 player, etc.
Recent development of smartphone applications (or apps) would be even more intimidating for Jenkins. Most recently, Microsoft Office offered a free download of its software on the iPhone and androids. This means that you can edit your work on the go. Dropbox also has a application for smartphones. This means you can do practically anything on your phone, so much so that it’s most basic function – which is to call, may be soon forgotten.
Muhammad Faisal Bin Zainal Abiden
Jenkins’ work on ‘convergence’ gives us theory on how media never really dies, but instead evolves. Hence one form of media simply adapts to different mediums to give it a sense of permanence. Kittler’s ideas of technology’s function of storing information can also be brought in here. An example is music. Beethoven’s symphonies and concertos were first composed on pieces of paper. As technology improved, sound recording made possible to listen to Beethoven’s works outside a live performance. The first recording devices were the gramophone record followed by the cassette. Music then transcended into new media, as explained by Manovich, when the music was translated into computer code to be played on electronically. Thus it can be argued new media is not entirely a separate entity from old media but merely old media adapting to advances in technology.
Lyndon Leong
Bolter and Grusin’s article on remediation is particularly interesting whereby the modernist myth of digital technologies such as the World Wide Web, virtual reality, and computer graphics must divorce themselves from earlier media for a new set of aesthetic and cultural principles was inherently debunked. They argue that the new media piggybacks on old media forms such as perspective painting, photography, film and television and refashions them through remediation.
Fundamentally, horror films today are somewhat similar to those of the past, just that new levels of technological advancements have managed to bring the cinematic experience to a whole new level. It is able to make the audience so deeply immersed in the film that they could jump out of their chair if a ghost popped out. But what has changed is the level of immediacy. In the past, the transition of frames per second were slow and technology was far less superior to what it is today, hence, sound effects, lighting etc made the film less representative of real life. People today would likely not be as spooked out by Frankenstein as people in the past.
It is thus interesting to look at the transition of technology through what Bolter and Grusin terms remediation and immediacy.
Brandon Lye
I found Henry Jenkins’ notion of convergence very interesting, and I feel that convergence is ubiquitous in society today and has largely shaped mainstream culture. By convergence, Jenkins is referring to the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries and the migratory behavior of media audiences who would go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want.
One fine example of convergence culture then, would be the internet. From the internet and its numerous platforms such as youtube, facebook and twitter, so much content is shared and promoted to us, from music, films, art, books, news etc. From this, we can see that there is a flow of content across multiple platforms, cooperation between media industries and audiences who would visit these spaces for the entertainment.
Not only are ordinary people like myself able to easily access the tons of information being shared, but we also willingly seek entertainment from these platforms. Hence, I feel that convergence has led to an overpouring of information onto the masses, and it has become a key component of our daily lives.
Poh Yang Ann
Fredrich Kittler draws a distinction between information systems and communication systems where the latter is an extension of the former in the form and scale of control. To be sure, while information systems translate raw data into messages, communication systems control orientates “all kinds of media… from road systems to language”. This implies that the communication system functions to elicit certain responses from the receivers who are, in Kittler’s words, addresses within the communication network. Further, Kittler asserts that what is being exchanged in material form between individuals are in fact immaterial data that are read, processed and transformed by the system. Kittler moves on to describe the evolutionary process – from writing to printing and subsequently technical technology – which gives rise to the digital technology that is so deeply embedded in the contemporary society. Noteworthy, as Kittler describes, the advent of technical technology represents a paradigm shift in the way individuals communicate. That is to say, rather than interacting with the “everyday language”, individuals communicate in a mediated fashion since technical technology (e.g. telegraph, telephone, film and gramophone)“make use of physical processes which are faster than human perception and are only at all susceptible of formulation in the code of modern mathematics”. The technical technology, while allowing communication to dispel the limits of space (and time), has its inadequacy – “there is no general standard which regulates their control and reciprocal translation”. Digital technology, as suggested by Kittler, seems to be the solution to the mentioned issue with technical technology. Digital technology, as Kittler describes, “functions like an alphabet but on a numerical basis”. By operating on the binary number system, which is the prerequisite for and allows for a general media standard, digital technology enables different media systems to be compatible and interoperational.
Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin contend that the dominant contemporary culture attempts to make media disappear at the same time it makes media more prominent. In other words, it operates on the twin logic of remediation – immediacy and hypermediacy. On the one spectrum lies immediacy where media is ‘transparent’ to the senses and consciousness of the individuals. This is achieved through both immersive and non-immersive methods where in either case, the desired is an experience where the material interface erases itself “so that the user would no longer be aware of confronting a medium, but instead would stand in an immediate relationship to the contents of the medium”. On the other side of the spectrum lies hypermediacy where the material interface of media is made obvious; rather than unifying the human and system, hypermediacy brings forth the “fragmentation, indeterminacy and heterogeneity” of the content so that users are compelled to recognize the presence of the interface. Hypermediacy highlights the tension between “looking at” and “looking through” the content presented on the interface. In this sense, Bolter and Grusin elaborate the assertions made by Kittler. To be clear, Kittlers speaks of the binary numerical system on which digital technology is premised, and Bolter and Grusin contextualized this technicality to the relationship between users and systems. Users relate to the system through “everyday languages” (to borrow Kittler’s words) but in fact, the system relate to the user in technical language and mathematical formula e.g. 1 and 0. While immediacy and hypermediacy operate differently, they nevertheless aim to arrive at the same end: “the desire to get past the limits of representation and to achieve the real”. The contradictory workings of immediacy and hypermediacy converge to remediation where new media appropriates the contents of the old media. To a larger context, Bolter and Grusin define remediation as the “representation of one medium in another”, where “digital media remediate their predecessors”. Understood as such, every form of mediation is in fact the result of remediation. According to Bolter and Grusin, the twin logic of mediation is manifested in three forms: 1) remediation as the mediation of mediation; 2) remediation as the insepearability of mediation and reality; and 3) remediation as reform.
Tiara Robyn Chew
The first thing I found particularly interesting about Henry Jenkins’ work on “(Worshipping) at the Altar of Convergence”, was his statement that “old media never die”, but that their “functions and status are shifted by the introduction of new technologies”. I thought about how photography, which has its roots in the 1800s, has been revolutionised so extensively that today it has become synonymous with mobile applications like Instagram. What was once highly regarded as an artistic skill, can now be achieved with similar effects by almost anyone with a smart phone. Photography certainly hasn’t died, but it also does not embody the same form it did in the past. I also found it interesting when he proposed that “convergence thinking.. is impacting the relationship between media audiences, products and content”, that is, the way people are consuming media. I think that in the past, media was more distanced from the individual, offering “commercially produced materials and services”. However, convergence thinking has made media consumption more personal, where our “lives, relationships, memories, fantasies, desires” are chronicled in various media channels. In a local context, I thought about STOMP and how it is accessed by the masses to share stories or daily encounters (but mostly to air grievances) which aligns with Jenkins’ assertion that when taken into the hands of the masses, the results can be both “wonderfully creative.. (and also) bad news for all involved”.
Although media and technological platforms are increasingly diverging, the flow of contents is converging. With convergence, Jenkins suggests that the audiences play a vital role in the creation and distribution of media content. Audience participation in creating or shaping media content is evident not only in the virtual world such as creating, posting or reposting videos, articles, and music through Tumblr, Facebook, Youtube et cetera, it is also evident in traditional media.
Television corporations and content producers for example, are actively wooing audiences in online discussions regarding their shows, as well as in dramas and reality television programmes like American Idol in which audiences are encouraged to vote for the contestants they support or the version of drama ending they hope to see. Media corporations thus give audiences the illusion of choice as we are ultimately still choosing among the options made available by them (contestants A-Z or ending A or B). By giving audiences the illusion of choice, television firms stand to gain as they can generate hype in the process and protect their bottom line by securing advertisers and sponsorships.
Henry Jenkins’ theory on convergence is a particularly relevant one in today’s context. Indeed , much of today’s internet culture is influenced by convergence culture. From what was once regarded as a highly specialised skill (e.g. photography or videography), with producers and the associated media being distanced from the consumers, it has now become a widespread resource. Anyone with smartphone is capable of uploading user-created content on Instragram or Youtube for the online community to enjoy.
Convergence culture has led to the explosion of user-generated content, and if the popularity of youtube and instagram are to be acknowledge, they have become a key part of our social lives.
According to Kittler, the digital is the end of technology. Digital allows for very blurred boundaries. Machines not only handle transmissions and data storage but are also in control of the processing of commands. Digital now allows for information and communication to happen simultaneously.
Botler is interested in mediation. Hyper media and immediate media are opposite manifestations of similar desire. The desire to get past the limits of representation and to achieve the real, not necessary the visual real but feeling as well. All attempts at the real are representations. For Jenkins, media is always a cultural and social artefact/entity.
Within the past decade, the cell phone can do so much more than just making calls. It is an mp3, a radio, a television, a calculator, a diary and a computer all in one. Companies are constantly going to produce new technology add more functions to the current devices that we have. Even televisions today have Internet. Web accessibility grants quicker and more convenient ways for participants to interact. This many- to-many communication situation reshapes the relationship between the media producer and the consumer, as consumers have a stronger voice. However, they can only speak within the boundaries set by those in power. For example, Singaporeans who posts comments threatening racial/religious harmony may be jailed and fined.
I agree that while content converges, hardware diverges. It is common to see someone owning an iPhone, iPad, iPod, to serve different functions, when in fact an iPhone can be a combination of all 3. Or for those who prefer a larger screen, Apple could easily add the phone function to the iPad. The reason why they do not is probably because they want to earn more from their customers. On our part, we are more than willing consumers to keep up with the latest technology.
I would like to talk about Jenkins’s concept of convergence culture. Jenkins talks about convergence culture in a technological way. He talks about the phenomena we see today, while platforms are diverging, contents are actually converging. Convergence is the process of the bringing together of multiple media functions within the same gadgets and devices. One simple example would be that we can use Facebook, twitter, Spotify on our iPad/ tablets, computer, laptops, and even on some televisions as well. However, note the fact that platforms are increasingly diverging. Walk into any electronic stores such as Challenger, Courts and you will know what I mean. We have so many electronic gadgets that try to stand out from one another, by proclaiming that their speed processing are faster, their interfaces are much better than their competitors and they offer or any promotional messages to make themselves stand out. However, all in all, we are using them to stay connected, to surf through the same social platforms. New generations of phones, tablets and laptops emerge almost periodically every year. This also exemplify the divergence nature of gadgets in order for producers and corporations to earn money by marketing the notion that we have to “update” our gadgets in order to be relevant with the fast-paced nature of technological change, arguably another marketing tactic by corporations.
While this has help us stay connected to people online, it has also relegate less “me” time for ourselves. It is very rare for us to be able to do something else without looking at our phone, our tablets and surfing through these sites. In fact, the convergence nature of these platforms have transformed how our daily habits are. We feel lost if we don’t carry a phone with us all the time, and that is the feeling of disconnectedness. If you walk into the MRT cabin, you not only observe how people are using their phones almost all the time if they are alone. Some not only carry their phones but also their tablets to watch their shows and surf net. This nature of convergence has transformed radically how we spend our time and how and what interconnectedness mean to us. We used to think of it as a benefit but now it has become a culture to us or our second nature. So while this nature of convergence culture has relegate a participatory culture which is contrasted with the older notions of media spectatorship and encourage a collective intelligence through the online interaction and circulation of media content users have with another, at what price do we have to pay for them?
If you would like to know more about Jenkins’s work, you can actually refer to his blog:
http://henryjenkins.org/2006/06/welcome_to_convergence_culture.html
The reading from Bolter and Grusin is one which we can easily relate to in our lives today. They mentioned that all mediation is remediation and such is conspicuous in this digital age of Internet. The internet becomes the main body of media, compromising of many different medias such as photography and television. The original images are stored in the virtual database and reproduced in digital forms.
Next, the immediacy is where the media is attempting to eliminate, or else blur the line between the physical media and the experience to create a sense of “live”-ness – as if the participating party was involved in the space. It relied on the concept of “space binding” from Mc Carthy. Such immediacy can be observed in the film industry where film makers are using technologies such as 4D to create a “live” experience for the consumers, as if they were in the film itself. Another example would include the current Windows 8 which removes the frame the web browser to enhance the viewing experience.
On the other hand, hypermediacy does not attempt to do what immediacy does but instead enforces the characteristic of the media. The authors used the example of web browser to explain its function and I would like to share my experience with hypermediacy on Art. Artworks are usually framed and the frame would usually be viewed together with the artwork. However, some of the artists have attempted to draw a frame on the artwork itself to illustrate the concept of frames. When the frame becomes part of the real artwork, the hypermediacy of the artwork is being highlighted and not blended together with the frame, differentiating the work from the packaging.
I find Jenkins’ work about the convergence of media content has become more relevant as the reach of media expands. It would seem that his theory that media content will become spread out over an increasing number of media platforms is beneficial to the industry that creates these media. For example, there are many shows now that also spawn fan fictions, additional behind the scene videos and news of the programme online. Even the public, with their additional powers over media creation these days, have embraced the logic of convergence media. One example is Kickstarter, where different projects seek funding from the public. These include physical media like books or artworks. However, what is different is that the media creators can opt to include more forms based upon the original media in order to attract the die-hard fans. A movie can also come with concept art, scripts or scale model of the characters. Games may include a lore or history of the virtual world and even mimic the oft-found map of the virtual world.
“Ready or not, we are already living with a convergence culture,” and we are often unaware that the media content that we experience daily has possibly gone through the hands of walt disney, comcast or warner brothers. These distinct and even diverse types of media and media content are converging into the ownership of few. These media conglomerates are doing a fantastic job in portraying (or producing) “diverse”media that viewers/receivers are unaware that these are actually owned by the same company (star wars and marvel are part of walt disney)
Jenkin proposes that a participatory (consumer) culture is established with the results of increasing convergence met by media content. The consumer is not only on the receiving end, but rather contributing and communicating across the different channels. Suggested by Jenkins, a dialectical relation is formed between the masses (new media technologies resulting in both technical and social expansions) and the ownership of mainstream commercial media (increasingly concentrated within a few multinational media conglomerates). Consumers are gaining increasing awareness and control over using such technologies, whilst the media companies are increasingly expanding their markets and profitability. Such dialectical ties may sometimes result in co-existence, reinforcing each other, whilst other times resulting in a clash, bringing about a “redefinition” to the social culture.
One of the examples Jenkins had provided, was the 2004 American presidential campaign. This occurrence can be very much applicable to our local Political context too.
The “clash” in convergence (between Masses- Consumer, and the State-Producer) can be seen in the 2011 Singapore General Elections. The internet and social media platforms (i.e. Facebook, twitter) had opened up a source of independent information, with participating consumers using it to voice out their (mostly unhappy) opinions, and spreading possible forms of political ideologies. This has resulted in a clash with the Producers- the regulating State, whereby despite having formal legal ownership over the local media platforms (i.e. MDA), they were unable to tightly regulate or control the spread of “unwanted” information, as compared to traditional media. This resulting in the fall of PAP votes, from 67% to 60.1%. Thus, bringing about the “redefinition” to the social culture. The manifestations of popular culture, can be seen to have “redefined” the relationship between the State and the Masses. This can be seen in the symbolical virtual Coexistence now constructed between the Public and the State (i.e. in an attempt to keep up with times and to also curb worsening Public dissatisfactions, has opted for such social media platforms too, to communicate with the public)
The issues faced? Despite efforts made to coexist and to reinforce each other, the internet is still being used as a platform to vent their frustrations. The participatory culture, allowed for the blurring of lines between gaining “political awareness” versus “having (specific) anti-PAP sentiments”. Distinguishing between objective information and personal dissent is becoming increasingly difficult. Especially when the media platform requires for interaction between parties, where different perspectives are bound to be exchanged. Consumers thus, should be made aware of such forms of participation, and know when to draw the boundaries (i.e. not be so easily influenced ) Cultivating an objective participating consumer culture, along with a socially regulated State/Producer ownership (i.e. State is constantly working to serve their social audience) would be more beneficial, and effective to both parties.
Friedrich Kittler delves into the history of communication firstly by defining what an information system is, through three characteristics. Firstly, the message that is meant to reach a recipient, should garner reaction. Next, people are not objects, but addresses. The example given in lecture was that a road traffic fine does not get sent to an individual (where there is some form of interaction between sender and recipient), but it is sent to an address – in which there is a somewhat dehumanizing of this process. Lastly, goods represent data – there is no value-free object. The example cited in lecture was that while consumers listen to a song on the computer, the computer does not read it as a song, but reads it as data.
Kittler then states that information systems are part of communication systems, and that the digital allows for information and communication to happen at the same time, and also allows for the decoupling of information and communication. He then drew an example of decoupling from the telegraph: massless flow of electromagnetic waves from the communication message.
The content of a medium is always another medium, for example, speech is the medium for ideas, and writing is a medium for speech.
He then stresses that new media “do not make old media obsolute”. Instead, it may be seen as though new media carries old media on it’s back. An example that illustrates this would be how most newspapers have a large online presence. While traditional papers are still sold at newstands, or are still subscribed, newspapers utilize social media platforms like Twitter to publish breaking news – which they could not do previously. Now, news is not off-stoned at a certain timing when it goes to print. News is updated every other minute online. However, the online space does not replace newspapers. Instead, readers to read the full version of the piece of news through the newspaper, hence, encourages readership of a particular newspaper.
Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin discuss the twin logic, or paradox of remediation, which involves immediacy and hypermediacy.
While immediacy stems from the ideology of ‘seamlessness’, or the deception of ‘liveness’, it’s very purpose has to be supported by sophisticated technology. Plainly speaking, to create the most ‘life-like’ experience, with all elimination of the consciousness of the medium, elaborate technology is used to create such effects. An example could be films shot in high-definition cameras, where film-makers aspire to immerse audiences so much into the film and believe in its “realness”, that they utilize complicated technology to achieve the effect.
Immediacy strives to bring the least attention to the medium, by hypermediacy shows a medium’s mediation. Digital mediacy is able to incorporate both immediacy and hypermediacy.
As Henry Jenkins explains the convergence of media, he gives a self-deprecating anecdote of how when he wanted to buy a cell phone, he couldn’t find one which was just a phone – most phones came with other features like a camera, an mp3 player, etc.
Recent development of smartphone applications (or apps) would be even more intimidating for Jenkins. Most recently, Microsoft Office offered a free download of its software on the iPhone and androids. This means that you can edit your work on the go. Dropbox also has a application for smartphones. This means you can do practically anything on your phone, so much so that it’s most basic function – which is to call, may be soon forgotten.
Jenkins’ work on ‘convergence’ gives us theory on how media never really dies, but instead evolves. Hence one form of media simply adapts to different mediums to give it a sense of permanence. Kittler’s ideas of technology’s function of storing information can also be brought in here. An example is music. Beethoven’s symphonies and concertos were first composed on pieces of paper. As technology improved, sound recording made possible to listen to Beethoven’s works outside a live performance. The first recording devices were the gramophone record followed by the cassette. Music then transcended into new media, as explained by Manovich, when the music was translated into computer code to be played on electronically. Thus it can be argued new media is not entirely a separate entity from old media but merely old media adapting to advances in technology.
Bolter and Grusin’s article on remediation is particularly interesting whereby the modernist myth of digital technologies such as the World Wide Web, virtual reality, and computer graphics must divorce themselves from earlier media for a new set of aesthetic and cultural principles was inherently debunked. They argue that the new media piggybacks on old media forms such as perspective painting, photography, film and television and refashions them through remediation.
Fundamentally, horror films today are somewhat similar to those of the past, just that new levels of technological advancements have managed to bring the cinematic experience to a whole new level. It is able to make the audience so deeply immersed in the film that they could jump out of their chair if a ghost popped out. But what has changed is the level of immediacy. In the past, the transition of frames per second were slow and technology was far less superior to what it is today, hence, sound effects, lighting etc made the film less representative of real life. People today would likely not be as spooked out by Frankenstein as people in the past.
It is thus interesting to look at the transition of technology through what Bolter and Grusin terms remediation and immediacy.
I found Henry Jenkins’ notion of convergence very interesting, and I feel that convergence is ubiquitous in society today and has largely shaped mainstream culture. By convergence, Jenkins is referring to the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries and the migratory behavior of media audiences who would go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want.
One fine example of convergence culture then, would be the internet. From the internet and its numerous platforms such as youtube, facebook and twitter, so much content is shared and promoted to us, from music, films, art, books, news etc. From this, we can see that there is a flow of content across multiple platforms, cooperation between media industries and audiences who would visit these spaces for the entertainment.
Not only are ordinary people like myself able to easily access the tons of information being shared, but we also willingly seek entertainment from these platforms. Hence, I feel that convergence has led to an overpouring of information onto the masses, and it has become a key component of our daily lives.
Fredrich Kittler draws a distinction between information systems and communication systems where the latter is an extension of the former in the form and scale of control. To be sure, while information systems translate raw data into messages, communication systems control orientates “all kinds of media… from road systems to language”. This implies that the communication system functions to elicit certain responses from the receivers who are, in Kittler’s words, addresses within the communication network. Further, Kittler asserts that what is being exchanged in material form between individuals are in fact immaterial data that are read, processed and transformed by the system. Kittler moves on to describe the evolutionary process – from writing to printing and subsequently technical technology – which gives rise to the digital technology that is so deeply embedded in the contemporary society. Noteworthy, as Kittler describes, the advent of technical technology represents a paradigm shift in the way individuals communicate. That is to say, rather than interacting with the “everyday language”, individuals communicate in a mediated fashion since technical technology (e.g. telegraph, telephone, film and gramophone)“make use of physical processes which are faster than human perception and are only at all susceptible of formulation in the code of modern mathematics”. The technical technology, while allowing communication to dispel the limits of space (and time), has its inadequacy – “there is no general standard which regulates their control and reciprocal translation”. Digital technology, as suggested by Kittler, seems to be the solution to the mentioned issue with technical technology. Digital technology, as Kittler describes, “functions like an alphabet but on a numerical basis”. By operating on the binary number system, which is the prerequisite for and allows for a general media standard, digital technology enables different media systems to be compatible and interoperational.
Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin contend that the dominant contemporary culture attempts to make media disappear at the same time it makes media more prominent. In other words, it operates on the twin logic of remediation – immediacy and hypermediacy. On the one spectrum lies immediacy where media is ‘transparent’ to the senses and consciousness of the individuals. This is achieved through both immersive and non-immersive methods where in either case, the desired is an experience where the material interface erases itself “so that the user would no longer be aware of confronting a medium, but instead would stand in an immediate relationship to the contents of the medium”. On the other side of the spectrum lies hypermediacy where the material interface of media is made obvious; rather than unifying the human and system, hypermediacy brings forth the “fragmentation, indeterminacy and heterogeneity” of the content so that users are compelled to recognize the presence of the interface. Hypermediacy highlights the tension between “looking at” and “looking through” the content presented on the interface. In this sense, Bolter and Grusin elaborate the assertions made by Kittler. To be clear, Kittlers speaks of the binary numerical system on which digital technology is premised, and Bolter and Grusin contextualized this technicality to the relationship between users and systems. Users relate to the system through “everyday languages” (to borrow Kittler’s words) but in fact, the system relate to the user in technical language and mathematical formula e.g. 1 and 0. While immediacy and hypermediacy operate differently, they nevertheless aim to arrive at the same end: “the desire to get past the limits of representation and to achieve the real”. The contradictory workings of immediacy and hypermediacy converge to remediation where new media appropriates the contents of the old media. To a larger context, Bolter and Grusin define remediation as the “representation of one medium in another”, where “digital media remediate their predecessors”. Understood as such, every form of mediation is in fact the result of remediation. According to Bolter and Grusin, the twin logic of mediation is manifested in three forms: 1) remediation as the mediation of mediation; 2) remediation as the insepearability of mediation and reality; and 3) remediation as reform.
The first thing I found particularly interesting about Henry Jenkins’ work on “(Worshipping) at the Altar of Convergence”, was his statement that “old media never die”, but that their “functions and status are shifted by the introduction of new technologies”. I thought about how photography, which has its roots in the 1800s, has been revolutionised so extensively that today it has become synonymous with mobile applications like Instagram. What was once highly regarded as an artistic skill, can now be achieved with similar effects by almost anyone with a smart phone. Photography certainly hasn’t died, but it also does not embody the same form it did in the past. I also found it interesting when he proposed that “convergence thinking.. is impacting the relationship between media audiences, products and content”, that is, the way people are consuming media. I think that in the past, media was more distanced from the individual, offering “commercially produced materials and services”. However, convergence thinking has made media consumption more personal, where our “lives, relationships, memories, fantasies, desires” are chronicled in various media channels. In a local context, I thought about STOMP and how it is accessed by the masses to share stories or daily encounters (but mostly to air grievances) which aligns with Jenkins’ assertion that when taken into the hands of the masses, the results can be both “wonderfully creative.. (and also) bad news for all involved”.