Introduction to Communication Science week 6: 6.6 What's New About New Media?

I received a couple of requests to say something
about ‘new media’.

There is of course a lot to say about this,

but for now I want to limit myself to a quick
discussion on new media theory.

Before we continue, could you think about some
old media?

Just note the first ones that pop up in your mind.

And now, some new media. I asked this
question in many classrooms

usually my students mention mobile phones,
the internet, tablets or blu-ray discs

as new media. Old media that are mentioned
are the newspaper, books, television and radio.

Take a few seconds to think about why you
consider this medium old and the other new.

What is the definition of a new medium?

While you are thinking about this, I want to
share with you the following,

typical quote, from a scholar:

“[The new medium] will create forgetfulness in
the learners' souls,

because they will not use their memories (…).

[Learners] will be hearers of many things and
will have learned nothing;

they will appear to be omniscient and will
generally know nothing;

they will be tiresome company, having the show
of wisdom without the reality.”

What medium do you think this critical scholar
had in mind? The internet?

You often hear people say things like this about
the internet.

But this quote is actually about the written word
by the famous philosopher Plato.

Plato wrote these critical notions on the written
word around 360 Before Christ.

There are many historical quotes very similar to
this one referring to other media

that were new at one time in history,

like the first printed books in the Late Middle
Ages,

the new phenomenon of the popular newspaper
press in the nineteenth century,

radio in the early and television in the late
twentieth century.

The point I’m trying to make is this:

It’s important to realize that all media were new
at one time or another.

Because it’s easy to fall into the trap of only
seeing our current new media,

internet, mobile media and such, as new.

This trap has led some scholars to come up
with very specific definitions of new media,

claiming that new media are always interactive,
promote user participation, et cetera.

But is this useful?

Basically what we are seeing here is new media
theory built around specific

and only current examples,

like the internet or mobile media. These types of
theories explain what’s happening right now,

but you can’t really use them to explain the
phenomenon of new media in general.

These theories, built around the new media of
today,

hardly fit the situation where the written word
was introduced

or the book printing revolution changed the face
of Europe.

Also, in designing theories to fit current
examples lies another danger,

because it’s very probable that these theories
become outdated as soon

as a new new medium arises.

Therefore, many scholars argue against the
practice of creating new media theories

to fit current examples.

The influential Marshall McLuhan gave a great
example when he proposed his own theories on
new media,

not by dwelling on modern-day examples, but
by skipping back and forth through time,

showing in fact that his theories apply in all of
these historical and modern situations.

One of his main observations was in fact that all
of these media revolutions throughout history

were always caused by a new technology.

This perspective is called technology
determinism,

because important shifts in human development
are, in the end,

attributed to innovations in technology. The
printing revolution was made possible by

Gutenberg’s innovation of the printing press.

The internet was made possible because
computer networks were developed. Et cetera.

Another important conclusion of McLuhan was
that all of these shifts in the media landscapes

had huge effects in society:

The printing revolution led to the Renaissance
and Enlightenment.

The rise of the internet has heralded a modern
digital information age.

Other scholars have followed in the footsteps of
McLuhan,

even though they don’t always agree with his
views,

they too strive to formulate theories and
definitions on New Media

that capture the entirety of the new media
phenomenon, and not only current examples.