Understanding New Media Concepts

Media

• Media is defined as a communication channel, environment, or means of expression that facilitates the transfer of information. It's a cultural product actively shaping content rather than passively transmitting it.
• New media refers to digital and internet-based technologies including social networks, online platforms, and digital advertising. It combines traditional media functions with interactivity and variability.

Types of New Media

• Categories include photography, film (distinct from cinema), radio, television, and information technology media (internet, social networks, digital advertising).

Media by Function

• Observation: Enhances perception (e.g., glasses, microphones).
• Recording/Processing: Stores or processes data (e.g., cameras, phonographs).
• Transmission: Transmits information across time and space (e.g., radios, computers).
• Communication: Combines observation, recording, and transmission.

Old/Traditional/New Media

• Old Media: Ancient methods like oral and written communication.
• Traditional Media: Print, radio, and broadcast television.
• New Media: Digital platforms like social media and interactive online spaces.

Digital Media

• Digital media is created, stored, and distributed in digital formats enabling interactivity, automation, and variability.

Consciousness Industry

• Media systems manipulate public perception to align with dominant ideologies and commodify consciousness.

False Consciousness

• A Marxist concept where media creates illusions obscuring reality and maintaining social hierarchies.

Postmodernist Consciousness

• A fragmented, hyperreal sense of awareness where media representations dominate perceptions of reality.

Marginalization of Man

• Media and technology diminish human significance turning individuals into passive consumers in a manipulated culture.

Virtuality

• The creation of simulated environments or realities through digital media, replacing physical presence with representations.

Simulation

• Media's reproduction of reality blurring the line between real and artificial (discussed in Baudrillard's theory).

Hyper-reality

• Media representations become more real than actual reality, distorting perception of the world.

Visual Turn

• Visual media (images, videos) increasingly dominate communication and culture, influencing consumption and interpretation.

Telematic Society

• Interconnected society through telecommunications, enabling instantaneous communication and collaboration.

The Global Network

• Interconnectedness of individuals and institutions worldwide via digital and telecommunication technologies.

Informationalism

• Societal framework where information processing and exchange are central to economic and cultural activity.

Network Society

• Society structured around interconnected digital networks, emphasizing decentralized communication and globalization.

Propaganda

• Media strategies to manipulate public opinion by disseminating biased or misleading information.

Types of Propaganda

• White Propaganda: Transparent, truthful but biased agenda.
• Black Propaganda: Deceptive, false aimed at discrediting opposition.
• Gray Propaganda: Ambiguous, unverified or mixed sources.

This quiz explores the definitions and functions of media, particularly focusing on new media and its various forms. Learn about the distinctions between old and new media, as well as the impact of digital technologies on communication. Test your knowledge on the types and functions of media in our modern world.