New Media and Old Media

“New” in New Media

New media generally refers to media forms that rely on the Internet and digital content. It is "new" because the introduction of internet culture in communication technology opens up entirely new possibilities for real-time direct communication and interaction, it develops mass communication into a way that individuals can personally participate, and new media is more likely to reach the specific target group and provide a personalized experience.

Compared with the older forms of communication, new media can provide real-time interaction between individuals and media, between individuals and groups, and between individuals and individuals. Old media such as newspapers, movies, radio, and television are more like a single mode of communication, and the audience passively obtains information from the media. For example, editorial people or publishers discuss and design each volume of newspaper content and then disseminate it to the audience. Even though people can write feedback to publishers, it is delayed interactions. Old media cannot create real-time interactions, and the interaction relies on other types of media, just as people need to write letters to publishers to provide comments. 

In contrast, the introduction of the internet provides two-way communication one person can be the receiver and sender, no matter if it is interaction and communication between people or groups, and most importantly it is real-time. One view considers new media is not always real-time, because the temporal structure of communication medium has types of synchronous communication and asynchronous communication. But the fact is in the practice of online communication the distinction is not obvious, one media can function both as a synchronous and asynchronous mode of communication (Baym, 2010). In TikTok, for example, asynchronous comments for each video post can be sent and received in real-time, just like synchronous communication. People communicate with others by commenting or upvoting the like button to support like-minded people to keep the comment at the top of the comment so others can see it later, asynchronously. Thus, real-time interaction and communication are “new” and unique features of the internet culture and new media.

Second, new media allow individuals to participate in communication practices. Baym (2010) states that new media “allows us to communicate personally within what used to be prohibitively large groups.” Indeed, old media has two characteristics, usually, one-to-many communication and the single source of information is provided by a group of people or control, the public cannot participate in the communication process of production and dissemination. New media disrupts forms of dissemination that recipients can only passively access and receive information in one direction through print, radio, and television. As one of the representatives of new media, YouTube, a video site founded by Chad Hurley and Steve Chen in 2005, is one of the earliest media sites driven by user-generated content (Vanity Fair, July 2008). Unlike other forms of video media such as film, TV, or Netflix, video is uploaded and played to convey to the audience what they want to convey, or a team of producers defines what the audience wants to see. YouTube encourages viewer participation in the production and distribution of videos, and everyone can share and put the content they generate online. Media that once belonged only to large groups can now be used for personal communication, where everyone can generate content and share it with each other.

New media can display personalized content for everyone through the Internet. A common approach is to provide content that meets specific user needs by predicting what users want to know, want, and are interested in, through personalization algorithms based on internet data based on previously viewed content in social media. Arguably, the Internet allows the data collected to be linked together so that new media can deliver personalized content to individuals when appropriate. However, "New" in new media doesn't always mean improvement or good things. Personalized content in new media is convenient for people and it is what they like, but the consequences of their compromising behavior online could fuel digital totalitarianism (Deibert, 2019). For example, algorithms built around their personal data surveillance might use their online censorship or personalization features to give regulators powers to control what information can be placed on the internet, what information can be accessed, or what information can be viewed on the internet. All in all, while there are growing concerns that data collection will violate people's privacy and that personal data could be misused by businesses in their best interests, with the support of the internet and algorithms, new media unprecedentedly can better target specific people than traditional media.

“Old” in New Media

From the perspective of communication history, like the older form of communication technologies, new media are endowed with the meaning and purpose of changing the world and solving social problems, and at the same time, new media are consistent with previous technologies, causing anxiety and unease. 

The invention of the printing press was seen as a tool to increase literacy rates to create a wider literate reading public, thereby transforming religions, politics, and lifestyles worldwide (Newman, 2019). The telegraph revolutionized redefining the way of long-distance communication, seemingly transcending space and time, making the world smaller, reducing social isolation, and eliminating national competition. (Standage, 1998). Cinema, as known as motion pictures, aims to raise public awareness of local and global issues, it promises to foster education to eliminate class disparities and persistent misunderstandings, and to be a catalyst for social change (Czitrom,1982). Similarly, the internet and new media have been given a similar fantasy, offering opportunities for personal expression, and worldwide communication that will break down boundaries between cultures and eliminate international differences and misunderstandings.

Another characteristic of new media, which is similar to older modes of communication, is that they generate debate and attention on new forms of technology. For example, Singer (1995) mentioned several illustrations in magazines and newspapers in the early 1900s that focused on the dangers, deaths, and traffic caused by trams, showing how people had Fear of the tram. As the internet and new media continue to integrate into everyday life, many articles have expressed concerns including but not limited to: people are increasingly concerned that data collection in social media will violate their privacy and that their data may be misused by businesses to the detriment of their best interests (Deibert, 2019); Internet use affects human cognition such as attention and contemplation (Carr, 2008); relationship to technology and how to be both present and present in communication (Baym, 2010). Basically, the parallel reasons for anxiety to tech between news media and older forms of communication are that new technologies and media always affect how we see the world and how we interact with each other. And the transition from the familiar to the unfamiliar leads to anxiety, not only in the media itself but also in relation to technology.

Relationship between Communication Technology and Culture

For the relationship between communication technology and culture, Winston (1990) proposed two commonly used methods, technological determinism, and cultural determinism. Technological determinism emphasizes the importance of media technology, while cultural determinism tends to refer to the role of culture in shaping technology. As mentioned above, any technological invention, be it the printing press, the telegraph, the film, and the Internet, has changed the way we communicate and the way we see the world. Although some fanciful hopes and goals remain unfulfilled, and debates and concerns about new technologies are raised each time, the domestication of technology (Baym, 2010) makes unfamiliar technologies generally familiar and less scary.

Reference

Baym, Nancy. “Chapter 1: New Forms of Personal Connection” and “Chapter 2: Making New Media Make Sense.” From Personal Connections in the Digital Age. Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2010. 1-45.

Czitrom, Daniel. “American Motion Pictures and the New Popular Culture, 1892-1918.” From Media and the American Mind: From Morse to McLuhan. Chapel Hill: Univ of North Carolina Press, 1982. 30-59.

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic (July/August 2008). 

Deibert, R. (2019). The Road to Digital Unfreedom: Three Painful Truths About Social Media. Journal of Democracy, 30(1), 25-39.

Newman, Sophia. “So, Gutenberg didn't actually invent the printing press." Literary Hub (June 19, 2019).

Singer, Ben. “Modernity, Hyperstimulus, and the Rise of Popular Sensationalism” Cinema and the Invention of Modern Life. Eds. Leo Charney and Vanessa R. Schwartz. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. 72-99

Standage, Tom. “The Legacy of the Telegraph.” From The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph & the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers. NY: Berkley Books, 1998. 201-211

Winston, Brian. “How Are Media Born?” Questioning the Media: A Critical Introduction. Eds. John Downing, Ali Mohammadi, & Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1990. 55-72.

"How the Web was Won: An Oral History of the Internet." Vanity Fair (July 2008)