1. 1 Basic concepts of New Media MIS 311 - New Media

2. 2 New media (1/2)  Term has been used since the 1970s by researchers conducting social, psychological, economic, political and cultural studies of information and communication technologies.

3. 3 New media (2/2)  Some definitions focus on computer technology, others focus on interactivity  Differences: Audiences not heterogeneous Control shifts from communicator to audience

4. 4 Facilitates Conversation  The “audience” becomes the “creator”  Disruptive -> breaks mass media mold Is this new?  Multimedia: Watch YouTube Clip

5. 5 Communication  A process in which participants create and share information with one another in order to reach mutual understanding (Rogers, 1995).

6. 6 Mediated communication  What is it? (adj) acting or brought about through an intervening agent; (verb) to be in the middle  Why would we study it? We live in an ever-increasingly mediated world

7. 7 Part one : medium  A go-between/intermediary in the communication binding the sender and receive Considers symbolic and cognitive theories of the psychology of representation Considers theories of meaning in signs and symbols (semiotics)

8. 8 Part two : mass media (1/2)  Mass communication characteristics: Directed towards a large, heterogeneous audience Messages are transmitted publicly, are transient in nature, and are timed to reach all simultaneously Communicator works for an organization Charles Wright, 1959, from Communication Theories: Origins, Methods and Uses in the Mass Media, 1988, p7

9. 9 Part two : mass media (2/2)  Mass media communication traditionally encompasses these channels Newspapers, magazines (print technologies) TV, radio (electronic technologies)  Note: “news” v “ads”

10. 10 Channel  The physical/technical transmission as well as any device needed for encoding/decoding  May encompass advertising channels (direct mail) or news (TV)  One-to-many, one-way channel is typical

11. 11 So, what is new?  Technologically?  Socially? Your thoughts, based on readings?  Three BIG things:

12. 12 Constraint of time  Gone!  Time-shifting (Tivo, podcasting, 24x7 tech support via the web … what else?) How do you think that the speed in which we now communicate (e-mail, mobile phones, etc.) has affected our communication?

13. 13 Constraint of space  Geographical barriers: Gone!  Internet technology lets us “space shift” like we “time shift” – (almost) seamlessly There are environmental benefits from the advancement of technology, specifically from computers. If in the future, all of academia (from grade school & beyond) required only computer-based work, what would your response be to the change? Why?

14. 14 New channels  WWW  E-mail  Videoconferencing  MP3  Electronic publishing  Mobile telephony What do they have in common?

15. 15 Computer Mediated Communication (1/2) 1.Desktop computers used as tools to influence human cognition and convey messages among people (focuses on the technology, older definition) 2.Any form of communication between two or more individuals who interact and/or influence each other using social software on separate computers linked by a network (focuses on the people)

16. 16 CMC (2/2)  Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) software has two categories: asynchronous and synchronous (Smith, 1994). http://www.edb.utexas.edu/csclstudent/kim/text/ASCmC.html

17. 17 Synchronous  Two or more group members have real-time (simultaneous) communication  Instant Messaging can be synchronous  Face-to-face meetings; video conference; other?

18. 18 Asynchronous  Allows group members to work individually and “alone”  Provides time/space flexibility  E-mail, BBS  Example: virtual teams

19. 19 Virtual Teams  Types Temporary (no common history or future) Permanent (common history and future)  Forms of Interaction Face-to-face (meetings, formal or informal) Electronically-mediated (phone, CMC, videoconference)  Context Culture and geography may be similar or different

20. 20 CMC/Web Characteristics (1/2)  Hardware independent  Software independent IM Not Here Yet, But Close (Google)  Open standards  Information sharing  “Give back” (contribute) to the community

21. 21 CMC/Web Characteristics (2/2)  A blend of characteristics from “old” media Print Radio Film TV

22. 22 Print Characteristics  Abstract  Captive audience  Fixed  Linear  Primarily verbal  Reader controls pace

23. 23 Radio Characteristics  Auditory  Creator controls pace  Dynamic  Linear  “Live” — happening in real time  Transient audience

24. 24 TV Characteristics  Animated  Creator controls pace  Dynamic  Linear  “Live” — may be happening now  Primarily visual  Transient audience

25. 25 Film Characteristics  Animated  Captive audience  Creator controls pace  Fixed  Linear  Primarily visual

26. 26 Web Characteristics  Dynamic  “Live” (maybe)  Multi-media (visual, auditory)  Transient audience  Typically nonlinear  User controls pace and direction

27. 27 Mass audience no longer  From broadcast to narrowcast  Time-shifting  Accelerates a move foreshadowed by niche publishing

28. 28 Hypertext  Presents information as linked nodes  Breaks the linear narrative

29. 29 Networks of Remediation (1/3)  “A medium is that which remediate’s” … and it is measured “against” other media  New media in turn change the “older” media TV … tickertape Print … adopting web design conventions

30. 30 Networks of Remediation (2/3)  Economic success depends on supplanting a pre-existing medium Conflict: newspaper websites vs paper Conflict: CDs vs downloadable (sharable) songs  Hypermediacy Survivor… The Apprentice… mediated or authentic?

31. 31 Networks of Remediation (3/3)  How do we separate technology from its social use? Can we? Technological determinism : says technology causes social change … Social determinism is the converse  Corollary: “nature versus nurture” … “'technology-push” vs “demand-pull” Can new media technology offer us transparent democracy?

32. 32 Why Use a Technology?  Cognitive Needs – Desire (demand) for information, knowledge, understanding  Affective Needs – Aesthetic, pleasurable, and emotional experiences  Personal Integrative Needs – Inner-directed, deal with credibility, confidence, stability, and status  Social Integrative Needs – Outer-directed, strengthening relationships with family, friends, the world  Escapist Needs – Desire for tension release or diversion - Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas

33. 33 Technology and Communication Media  Caves in France  Paper and charcoal/ink  Printing Press  Telegraph et al (radio, television)  Computer mediated communications Internet: e-mail, IM, web sites, BBs, usenet, Skype (VoIP)

34. 34 Quotable 1 “ This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. ” -- Western Union internal memo, 1876

35. 35 Quotable 2 “ Who the hell wants to hear actors talk? ” -- H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927

36. 36 Quotable 3 “ I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. ” -- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

37. 37 Quotable 4 “ Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons. ” -- Popular Mechanics, 1949

38. 38 HCI (1/3)  Norman: “The real problem with being digital is that it implies a kind of slavery to accuracy, a requirement that is most unlike the natural workings of the person. People are analog, insensitive to noise, insensitive to error. People extract meanings, and as long as the meanings are unchanged, the details of the signals do not matter.”

39. 39 HCI (2/3)  The world is complex: computer systems seek to render that complexity into something “simple” Yes/No (zero/one) Linear v Pattern Seeking Human Error – preventable? Whose fault? CHI or HCI – false dichotomy?  “People excel at qualitative considerations, machines at quantitative ones.”

40. 40 Internet Technologies  Efficiency IP v Telephony  Medium Independence Medium in this case is the communication medium : telephone wire, cable wire, wireless, cell telephony, satellite, ??

41. 41 Zuckerman and McLaughlin, linklink

42. 42 Domain Name System (DNS)  Analogous to the address used by a postal worker to deliver mail  Domain Names Original:.com,.gov,.mil,.net,.edu,.org Countries:.us to.za New:.biz,.info…  Works because of standardization

43. 43 HCI (3/3) 1.How does the internet play a vital role in how man and machine interact? 2.What are some misconceptions about our relationship to machines? 3.How much must we understand computers in order to function in our society? In the future, will we be more or less dependent on computers? Is this good? 4.The machine-centered view is precise, orderly and logical, while people are distractible, creative and illogical. The public education system seems to be modeled more on the machine-centered view. How might this model affect students’ view of themselves? 5.Do we as a human race really think that machines, that one day could be more intelligent than us, could successfully join us in our society? How would this happen?

44. 44 Summary  There is an intrinsic relationship between content and technology: both contribute to meaning  Tension between humans and machines  Internet Technology is application independent, agnostic

45. 45 What leads to adoption?  Winston: supervening social necessity More than “build a better mousetrap”  Advertising One goal is to build “need”  FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt)

46. 46 Rogers (1995) - Diffusion Theory  Identified four main elements of an innovation-diffusion process Innovation Social system Time Communications channels

47. 47 Linear innovation-diffusion  The process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. (Rogers, 1995, p.5).  Innovation: An idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption

48. 48 Communication  A process in which participants create and share information with one another in order to reach mutual understanding (Rogers, 1995)

49. 49 Time  The adoption model follows an “s” shape curve over time  For example …

50. 50 Forecast: US Household Technology Adoption, 2005-2010 Forrester Reports. July 2005, Data Overview “The State Of Consumers And Technology: Benchmark 2005”

51. 51 Innovation-Decision Process  The mental process through which an individual passes : from knowledge to forming an attitude toward the innovation (adopt, reject)

52. 52 Five steps  Knowledge  Persuasion  Decision (adopt or reject)  Implementation  Confirmation

53. 53 Social System  A set of interrelated units that are engaged in joint problem-solving to accomplish a common goal.  Members or units of a social system may be individuals, informal groups, organizations, and/or subsystems.

54. 54 Critical mass (1/2)  Rogers (1995) : "the critical mass occurs at the point at which enough individuals have adopted an innovation so that the innovation's further rate of adoption becomes self- sustaining.” (network effects)

55. 55 Critical mass (2/2)  The critical mass theory is a social system perspective, not a technology perspective.  The irreversible phase may take place when not only the critical mass point is overcome but also the dominant design is brought about at least in terms of the technological innovation. Examples?

56. 56 Adopter categories  Innovators  Early adopters  Early majority  Late majority  Laggards

57. 57 Technological Innovations  Hardware - the tool that embodies the technology as a material or physical object.  Software - the knowledge base for the tool

58. 58 Summary Adoption  What are some of the reasons we adopt a new product?  What are the five stages of adoption?  What is Critical Mass?

59. 59 More New Media Theory  Marshall McLuhan: Canadian, author of Understanding Media (1964) and The Medium is the Massage (1967)  Lev Manovich: professor, UCSD, author of The Language of New Media (2001) and Soft Cinema: Navigating the Database (2005)

60. 60 McLuhan (1/3)  Believes media (technologies) affect cultural (social) change Differentiates between a medium and its content Same content (words) is a different message when delivered in print, face- to-face, or on television – what is less important than how “We shape our tools, and they in turn shape us."

61. 61 McLuhan (2/3)  Historical Construct Tribal Age (oral culture – intuitive) Age of Literacy (invention of phonetic alphabet – emergence of logic) Print Age (invention of printing press – linear thinking – science – individualism) Electronic Age (ushered in with telegraph, poster child: TV – global village – decline of logic and linearity)

62. 62 McLuhan (3/3)  Compare our immediate knowledge of the 2004 December Tsunami with the 1556 Chinese earthquake that killed 830,000  If, as he suggests, print created individualism and nationalism … what might networked communication create? Will familiarity breed contempt or collaboration?

63. 63 Manovich’s Five (1/6)  Numerical Representation  Modularity  Automation  Variability  Transcoding

64. 64 Manovich’s Five (2/6)  Numerical representation “zero’s and one’s” Vector graphics v Bitmaps Analog v Digital  Early complaints about CD v LP

65. 65 Manovich’s Five (3/6)  Modularity The “whole” consists of many “objects”  Example from blog: Google Images  PPT and Excel  HTML page (javascript, JPGs, etc)  Individual blog posts

66. 66 Manovich’s Five (4/6)  Automation What computers do best! From blog post: “Apple’s new OS X Tiger… and Automator” Photoshop automation; running “Cron” jobs; database driven websites RSS readers Object management and search (Google)

67. 67 Manovich’s Five (5/6)  Variability Website customization possible by automation Presenting data (shaping appearance) based on output device: monitor, PDA, cellphone Scaling (zoom – Google Maps)Google Maps

68. 68 Manovich’s Five (6/6)  Transcoding Two distinct layers: cultural layer and technology layer … the intersection is a field called Human-Computer Interaction

69. 69 Diffusion Theory  Rogers (1995) outlined four parts: Innovation Social system Time Communications channels  And five steps: Knowledge Persuasion Decision (adopt or reject) Implementation Confirmation

70. 70 Summary  We define (or frame) new media in comparison to old media  There is an intrinsic relationship between content and technology: both contribute to meaning  Churchill : “we shape our buildings and then our buildings shape us”  Empowerment means responsibility

71. 71 Resources  Effects of Four CMC Channels on Trust Effects of Four CMC Channels on Trust  Glossary of Internet Terms Glossary of Internet Terms  Hypertext Terms (W3C) Hypertext Terms  JCMC JCMC  Patterns of Hypertext Patterns of Hypertext  Semantic Web: Intro Semantic Web: Intro