What is New Media?

New Media is the exchange of information through digital instruments. The internet is what makes this all possible. The internet is vital for people to connect to each other and have the ability to communicate from any two places in the world. As more and more people are able to access the internet, new media is also growing. Examples of new media are email, instant messaging, chat rooms, blogs, wiki, voip, etc. Characteristics which new media embellishes are communication, collaboration, community, creativity, and convergence.

New media is stirring up a revolution from old media. These forms of new media allow for people to proliferate information on demand from the comfort of their choosing.It allows for globalization and the ability to grasp the community all from one place. This makes the world a smaller place and easier for the user to commerce information via the world wide web. New Media plays an important role in business, creative arts, politics, and advertising.

New York Time had an interesting article on how old media is being enhanced into what we now know as new media. In their article, "Who needs a Tv? I'm watching on a Laptop", Laura Holson discusses how television is old media now that people have the accessibility to watch television on their computers via the internet. It seems that this new media technology can replace television because it enables to user to watch the show of their choice at the time of their choosing by simply visiting the appropriate web site. One website which standouts in this discussion is Hulu.com. It has a large variety of shows with a large library of episodes with minimum commercial breaks. Also Hulu allows you to pause, skip forward, or go backwards while watching an episode. This you cant do with a regular TV set.

Cite

Prof. Rachel Adler, "What is New Media?" http://baruchnewmedia.com/notes/n_whatisnm.htm

Holson, Laura "Who Needs a TV? I'm Watching on a Laptop" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/technology/personaltech/04basics.html?_r=1&emc=eta1