New media
New media refers to digital forms of media and communication that utilize computer technology, allowing users to access a wide array of information via the internet on various devices like computers, tablets, and smartphones. This modern approach contrasts sharply with "old media," which includes traditional formats such as books, newspapers, and television, where information is often published and accessed at scheduled times. Since the late 20th century, the rise of the internet transformed how people receive news and interact with information, enabling instant access and real-time updates.
Historically, before the internet, obtaining information required waiting for scheduled broadcasts or printed materials. The evolution began in the 1970s with early online services and culminated in the 1990s with the widespread adoption of personal computers and the introduction of graphical web browsers. As digital devices became increasingly portable throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the ability to access information shifted dramatically, leading to new challenges such as the spread of misinformation, particularly during significant events like elections and the COVID-19 pandemic.
While new media has empowered global audiences to access timely and comprehensive information, it has also raised concerns regarding data security, misinformation, and the digital divide. The ongoing development of new media forms, such as podcasts and enhanced connectivity through the internet of things, continues to shape the modern information landscape.
On this Page
Subject Terms
New media
New media encompasses digital forms of media and communication, which use computer technology. It gives people the ability to access news and other information via the internet at anytime from anywhere and on any digital device, such as a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. New media allows people to access information instantaneously, without waiting for it to be published in an old media format. Old media is any media that is not in digital form or is not related to the internet. Examples of old media include books, newspapers, magazines, television programs, films, and radio shows.
People access old media directly through the medium. For instance, someone might open a newspaper and read an article or look up information in an encyclopedia. With new media, people use a device connected to the internet to access websites, blogs (websites in which people post personal information), videos, social media (websites or apps where people share messages, photographs, videos, and other information with one another), and more.
History
Prior to the advent of the internet, people obtained news and information from the library, newspapers, television, and radio. They did not have up-to-the-minute coverage of events and had to wait for certain information, such as election results, to be reported on television news programs—typically aired at fixed times—or published in newspapers that were delivered the following day. The internet did not exist, and people could not simply go online to find the information they needed.
Things began to change in the 1970s and 1980s, when some people began to trade in their typewriters for computers. Computers began to change the way people accessed information. Prior to Wi-Fi, or wireless technology, people used modems attached by a wire to a phone line to access information online. CompuServe was an early service provider. In 1980, it partnered with newspapers to allow users to read the news online. The first newspaper to go digital using this format was the Columbus Dispatch. Others, such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, soon followed. Although the CompuServe newspaper service ended in 1982, it paved the way for other new media to follow.
Around this time, another form of online service was available. People subscribed to videotex or teletext services. These types of services posted text and simple graphics to people's home television sets. In 1983, Knight Ridder news service and AT&T launched a videotex project called Viewtron. Others followed, but most services like this faded from use in the late 1980s.
Still, new media continued to have a major impact on the way people access information. Libraries soon replaced their card catalogs with computer-based systems, and newspapers archived their articles online. People no longer had to search through paper files in libraries or cut out articles from newspapers; they could now search online databases.
In 1984, Apple introduced its Macintosh computers, which only increased the desire for online technology. The use of personal computers, however, did not become mainstream until the 1990s. During this time, the internet became widely popular. The internet not only gave users access to a wealth of information, but it also changed the face of communication with email. People could now type up email messages and send them instantly. They no longer had to wait for the mail to receive messages from friends and family.
At this time, the internet was mostly text, and websites rarely contained complex graphics. Few web browsers existed that allowed people to search the vast amount of information on the internet. In 1993, computer programmers designed the first graphical web browser, Mosaic, which allowed users to easily search the internet. During the mid-1990s, news media rushed to declare an online presence. More people turned to the internet for news. Early major news stories posted on the web during this time included the death of Princess Diana in 1997 and the coverage of the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998.
Through the 2000s, people routinely began to use the internet for other purposes, such as watching videos, reading blogs, playing games, downloading music, and more. The rapid growth in the popularity of digital devices such as smartphones and tablets in the 2010s provided people with instant access to the internet. They no longer had to sit behind a computer to find information or read the news. Digital devices allowed people to use the internet from almost anywhere. They could download music or read emails on their smartphones, or they could use their tablets to watch videos. The instant availability of information was not without its downfalls, though. The widespread use of new media meant that people's sensitive information, such as bank accounts and social security numbers, was more vulnerable. It increased the odds that hackers, people who secretly gain access to computer systems, could find this information and use it for their own purposes.
By the 2020s, concerns over the increased ability for misinformation to spread rapidly through the instant and constant connection of digital new media and the internet, particularly via platforms such as immensely popular social media sites like Facebook and TikTok, were raised and prominently debated amid critical events such as the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, as well as the public health crisis related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic declared in early 2020. Experts in politics and health care argued that while new media enabled people all over the world to easily access significant, up-to-date information about these events, it also heightened the risk of people either accidentally or purposefully sharing incorrect or misleading content and conspiracy theories to a large number of users. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials feared that this contributed to greater opposition of or hesitancy toward the vaccines developed and control efforts put in place (wearing masks, quarantines, etc.) to stop the spread of the virus. In terms of the 2016 and 2020 elections, it was discovered that millions of Facebook profiles had been deceitfully collected and misused during campaigning in the lead-up to voting in 2016, and that social media had also been the primary means for communicating unfounded allegations of election fraud before and after the 2020 election. Additionally, as peoples' dependence upon new media was particularly evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the existence of a harmful digital divide, in which there was still not equal access to the necessary media, became more apparent and sparked further discussions around how to best close that access gap.
Despite the risks, people continued to rely on the internet and digital devices to access information. New forms of new media were developed, such as podcasts, which soon grew in popularity and overshadowed traditional radio programs. As more technology is developed around the "internet of things," especially ever-faster wireless internet speeds, new media will undoubtedly continue to evolve and expand.
Bibliography
Chun, Wendy Hui Kyong. Updating to Remain the Same: Habitual New Media. MIT P, 2016.
"Fighting Misinformation in the Time of COVID-19, One Click at a Time." World Health Organization, 27 Apr. 2021, www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/fighting-misinformation-in-the-time-of-covid-19-one-click-at-a-time. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021.
Lipka, Michael, and Elisa Shearer. "Audiences Are Declining for Traditional News Media in the U.S.--With Some Exceptions." Pew Research Center, 28 Nov. 2023, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/28/audiences-are-declining-for-traditional-news-media-in-the-us-with-some-exceptions/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.
Shedden, David. "Why New Media Isn't: A Personal Journey." Poynter. Poynter Institute. 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/83122/why-new-media-isnt-a-personal-journey/
Socha, Bailey, and Barbara Eber-Schmid. "What Is New Media? Defining New Media Isn't Easy." New Media Institute. New Media Institute. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. http://www.newmedia.org/what-is-new-media.html
Starbird, Kate. "Social Media in 2020: A Year of Misinformation and Disinformation." The Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com/articles/social-media-in-2020-a-year-of-misinformation-and-disinformation-11607712530. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021.
"What Are the Different Types of New Media?" WiseGeek. Conjecture Corporation. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-new-media.htm
"Wireless Revolution: The History of WiFi." Suit. Suit Magazine. 17 Jul. 2014 Web. 4 Feb. 2015. http://www.thesuitmagazine.com/technology/web-a-internet/22360-wireless-revolution-the-history-of-wifi.html