Academic discipline
New media studies is an academic discipline that explores the intersections of computing, science, the humanities, and the visual and performing arts. Janet Murray, a prominent researcher in the discipline, describes this intersection as "a single new medium of representation, the digital medium, formed by the braided interplay of technical invention and cultural expression at the end of the 20th century".[1] The main factor in defining new media is the role the Internet plays; new media is effortlessly spread instantly. The category of new media is occupied by devices connected to the Internet, an example being a smartphone or tablet. Television and cinemas are commonly thought of as new media but are ruled out since the invention was before the time of the internet.
New media studies examines ideas and insights on media from communication theorists, programmers, educators, and technologists. Among others, the work of Marshall McLuhan is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory. McLuhan’s slogan, "the medium is the message" (elaborated in his 1964 book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man),[2] calls attention to the intrinsic effect of communications media.
A program in new media studies may incorporate lessons, classes, and topics within communication, journalism, computer science, programming, graphic design, web design, human-computer interaction, media theory, linguistics, information science, and other related fields.
New media studies is the academic discipline which examines how our relationship with media has changed with the onset of global connectivity and the popularity of digital and user-generated content.[3] New media studies seeks to connect computer sciences[4] and innovations in new media with social sciences and the philosophy of technology.[5]
History
Major figures
Marshall McLuhan is known in the study of media theory for coining the phrase, "the medium is the message" in its effect in communication in media. The medium affects how the media is delivered by the person and how the other person is receiving that media, while the characteristics of the medium effects the content in its delivery. McLuhan’s work challenged how media changed in the post-modern era which can also relate to present day use of media and its medium. Interface is defined as the common boundary of 2 bodies, spaces, or phases. Other Major works that also invoke his standpoint in the study of New Media including:
- The Mechanical Bride (1951) - Which includes many short essays that analyze forms of media such as advertising, or newspaper in relation to society.
- The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962) - In this book, McLuhan Writes about technology like the printing press or electronic media changing how people share stories in their day-to-day lives.
Lev Manovich has written nine books on the topic of new media. He developed a number of now-standard concepts for the analysis of new media culture such as cultural interface, database, navigable space, metamedia, and others. Manovich's 2001 book The Language of New Media contains the analysis of the five general principles of new media, as they developed up until that time:
- Numerical Representation: essentially means that "all new media objects can be described mathematically and can be manipulated via algorithms."[6]
- Modularity: are "elements can that be independently modified and reused in other works".[6]
- Automation: "Automation is seen in computer programs that allow users to create or modify media objects using templates or algorithms".[6]
- Variability: is "a new media object is not something fixed once and for all, but something that can exist in different, potentially infinite versions".[6]
- Transcoding: Designates the blend of computer and culture, of "traditional ways in which human culture modeled the world and the computer's own means of representing it".[6]
Henry Jenkins introduced the convergence culture concept in the field of new media studies: "By convergence, I mean 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 wanted."
Janet Murray is a professor at the School of Literature, Media, and Communications at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Murray is also a part of several design projects such as; a digital edition of the Warner Brothers classic, Casablanca. Janet works exclusively as a member of Georgia Tech's experimental game lab. Janet is also the author of the book Hamlet on the Holodeck; The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Along with this book, she is also a guest writer in The New Media Reader, where she is credited for writing one of the two introductions in the book called, Inventing the Medium.[7]
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