Interesting links, questions and discussions

Subject – the newness of new media and the value of cultural studies as an approach.

It is worthwhile to think about the concept of new and newness. It is used regularly in advertising to differentiate a past product from some changed product. Indeed it is used so much in popular culture that ‘new’ loses its resonance as a term. Nonetheless, new implies change and revolution. Debating the newness of new media is an essential launching point for your research and thinking. As we explore new media we work to deconstruct the wider dimensions of the concept of the new. A few years ago in 1998, I wrote a piece on new entitled ‘Thinking through new’ for the online journal m/c. That article may serve as a useful starting point for further reflection.

Media History and Media Futures
Each media technology has its own history; however no medium develops in isolation. Past media forms influence newer media forms. Therefore to understand the history of new media demands a knowledge of the various strands of past and current media that have often developed related and parallel histories.

A good place to investigate and see these parallel histories is a site organized by the Media History Project based in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota.

Media Effects: Uses and Gratifications tradition
A quick summary of media effects research can be found in a useful online glossary.

Cultural Studies and the Active Audience Approach

To investigate cultural studies, Sarah Zupko’s Cultural Studies Center can generate some good connections, although the site has been inactive for several years.

The cultural studies list is interesting to participate in current discussions in cultural studies – particularly from an American perspective.

Questions/Discussions:

What makes one active? What makes one passive? Are these useful ways of understanding our media use? Where does interactivity fit into these definitional (and sometimes prescriptive) spheres?

Describe the relationship you have to something new, as in a new product or a new technology? How does possessing that object change its meaning?

How have your interactions with others transformed with the use of new media forms such as the Internet or electronic games?