Lecture 2: Media Technologies PDF

Lecture 2: Media Technologies Dr. Michael L. Wayne Assistant Professor of Media and Creative Industries  Peter Steiner's cartoon, as published in The New Yorker in 1993 2 Today: How can we understand the relationship between technological developments and social change? Media technologies a...

Lecture 2: Media Technologies Dr. Michael L. Wayne Assistant Professor of Media and Creative Industries  Peter Steiner's cartoon, as published in The New Yorker in 1993 2 Today: How can we understand the relationship between technological developments and social change? Media technologies are both influenced by and shape social life. Technologies are socially constructed by cultural norms, regulations, and economic forces. 3 Today: 1. Popular discourses on new media/technology & Medium Theory 2. Critical approaches to media technology 3. Social constructionism 4. Case A: sound recording 5. Case B: Facebook 4  1. Popular discourses on new media/technology & Medium Theory 5  ‘New’ Media Traditional media (pre-digital) ‘New’ media one to many one-to-many as well as many-to-many known senders and anonymous receivers known senders and receivers, but also anonymity producers and receiver are distinguishable distinction between producers and receivers is blurring one-way communication interactivity 6 Popular (media) discourse on new media technologies 7 8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjg-Ln9pLlI  Technological determinism An approach that identifies technology, or technological developments as the central causal element in processes of social change (a 'billiard ball' approach) 9  STRUCTURE AGENCY 10  Medium theory The body of literature that focuses on the technological aspects of media beyond their content. 11 Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980): the medium is the message! Newsweek Magazine 1945 1967 New media technologies rework the balance of our senses Print media: intensifies the visual Electronic media (e.g. television): reconnect the senses 12 fragmented by print & a global extension of our senses 13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqnErw0S-Ek  2. Critical approaches to media technology 14  Events planned for the express purpose of Pseudo-events producing (dramatic) images that can be (Boorstin, 1961) disseminated or reported 15 Pseudo-events: characteristics Carefully planned Formatted to accommodate the media Celebrity: a person who is known for being well-known 16  Hyperreality (Jean Baudrillard, 1988) That which has gone beyond the real, supplanting of erasing it. 17 Hyperreality: opinion polls 18 Hyperreality: Disneyland and Las Vegas 19 Hyperreality: “reality” TV 20 Neil Postman (1931-2003) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdz0OSttBAQ 21 Postman on the influence of the telegraph 1. Irrelevance 2. Powerlessness 3. Sacrificing context A printing electrical telegraph receiver, with transmitter key at bottom right (Source: Wikipedia) 22 New media and a culture of distraction? (1994) (2008) (2010) 23 24  3. Social constructionism 25  Social constructionism emphasizes the social construction of technology, focusing on the role of active human agents in ultimately determining how technology is developed and used 26  In short … Media technologies are both influenced by and shape social life. Technologies are socially constructed by cultural norms, regulations, and economic forces. 27 28 Accounting for success and failure Technological development as result of interacting variables: Capacities of new machines Priorities of owners and investors Cultural practices and traditions that the new technologies confront Uses of potentially competing machines User perspectives 29 A sociological approach: social constructionism 30  4. Case A: Sound Recording 31  Year Media-related advancement 1878 First practical sound recorder and player is patented 1982 Audio compact disk (CD) is introduced 1993 Initial release of MP3 2001 Napster shuts down 2006 Spotify is founded 2018 Smart speakers gain in popularity Edison wax cylinder phonograph c. 1899 32 U.S. music industry sales data 33 https://www.visualcapitalist.com/music-industry-sales/ UK Music Consumption 34 https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46735093  US Consumer Spending and Concert Ticket Pricing https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/08/07/citigroup-music-industry-sales/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-10/concerts-are- more-expensive-than-ever-and-fans-keep-paying-up 35 Social constructionism & sound recording 36  5. Case B: Facebook 37 Facebook’s History 38 Facebook’s (Meta’s) Platforms 39 Facebook and Controversy 40 41 42 43 44 45 Social Constructionism & Facebook Tension between elements of the model Elements of the model are interrelated Outcomes (success/failure) are multicausal 46  Conclusions 47 Next Week How do economic and political forces influence media industries? Subject Reading Economics & Politics of Media Industries Chapters 3 & 4 48