What the tech?
A take on technological determinism
What is the difference between digital, online, and new media? This is the question that came to my mind as I started thinking of how I’m going to start off writing this blog post. Notice that I did not include social media in the question as I believe we, as social media users, are all too familiar with what social media pertain to. It is the online applications or sites that we use for social networking; but as I came across these terms all at once, I wondered, isn’t social media also considered as digital, online, and new media as well? Yes, so, what’s the difference among these three? Can they be interchanged with one another? Thankfully, revisiting notes from a lecture from our Writing in New Media class, plus the internet if I’d be honest, help clarify my queries. In spite of the confusion with these terms, I’m certain that one common ground of digital, online, and new media is the use of technology, and along with this is the risk of technological determinism which practically implies that technology determines society.
Digital media is any form of media that is electronically distributed. As per Wikipedia, this includes “software, digital images, digital video, video games, web pages and websites, social media, digital data and databases, digital audio such as MP3, electronic documents and electronic books.” To simplify, I think it’s safe to say that digital media is any form of nonprint media. In other words, it can be anything that is broadcast through a screen but not necessarily online. For instance, I can draft an essay on Microsoft Word without having to connect to the internet.
On the contrary, online media requires the connection of internet, obviously. The word online alone is quite self-explanatory; but online media is most concerned with the element of connectivity, and the degree and quality of the connection are what is improved over time. Examples of this are not just social media but also streaming applications, podcasts, blogs and all other websites. Perhaps we can recall the days before Netflix and Spotify became popular, when torrenting was more prevalent; before Zoom and Facebook Messenger, when Yahoo Messenger and Skype were the trend; and before Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were Myspace, Friendster, and Tumblr.
New media, on the other hand, is the product of the convergence of computational logic and communicative logic. According to Wikipedia, it refers to “forms of media that are computational and rely on computers for redistribution”—redistribution which I believe requires internet connection. I also like to think that applying online to digital media is what makes up the new media. Southern New Hampshire University defines it as well as “any internet-related form of communication can be considered new media.” To my understanding, new media can be an umbrella term that encompasses any digitally online media; just as multimedia is (but I believe multimedia covers a broader spectrum). As New Media Institute in University of Georgia puts it, it is “a catchall term used to define all that is related to the internet and the interplay between technology, images and sound.”
Social media falls under digital, online, and new media. To further distinguish terms, here’s a personal example. My first encounter of forms of digital media would most probably be the television shows and DVDs (Digital Video Disc). They are considered digital media but not online nor new. Now, if we’re going to talk about my first engagement in the new and online media, it’s Yahoo Messenger. All online media are digital and new, but not all digital are online nor new. While all online media are digital and new, not all digital media are necessarily online and new; theoretically because new media simply has to be on the internet or online.
Technological determinism is an interesting concept. It is believed to be coined by Thorstein Veblen, an American sociologist and economist. It states that technology determines society. Technology determines how its social structure and cultural values are developed. Society is developed as we move from one technological age to another. A form of technological determinism is media determinism which foundational pioneers are the Canadian scholars Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan. Like technological determinism, this holds that media technology shapes how we, as individuals in a society, think, feel, and act. Does technology determine media or does society determine technology? I can agree to both of this but in the context of media, I’m leaning more towards the former than the latter.
Perhaps generally, society determines technology, as invention and innovation of technology wouldn’t be possible without the society. Heck, it’s we who decide what defines technology, what it should do, how it should improve, where and when to utilize it. The mind of technology is in the society, the people who create and control them. However, over time, majority of the society has become more dependent on technology that in a sense, technology determines society in terms of sociocultural aspect. Technology has affected the way people behave. Along with the development of technology comes development of social structure and cultural values.
Undoubtedly, media has an effect, sociologically, culturally, and even psychologically, to individuals who make up the society. Media and technology have opened another dimension of the world—a virtual dimension where individuals create a persona of themselves, where connecting to people has become so much easier, where cultures have formed and values have evolved. One may not admit it but it does happen unconsciously. For instance, after spending too much time on social media viewing someone else’s profile, you unconsciously start comparing yourselves to the person whose profile picture you just viewed. Another example is time. Time, indeed, moves differently in media consumption. As someone who casually plays Genshin Impact, a role-playing video game, I can definitely relate to this. Though, does time really move fast? Or is it just a psychological effect due to virtual illusion? All in all, technology and media have influenced our reality, our perspective, and our society—and I believe that’s an irrefutable argument.
*Photos taken from Google images
REFERENCES:
- Cote, J. (2020 February 24). What is New Media? Retrieved from https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/2020/02/what-is-new-media.
- Hazel S. (2020, December 15). 8 Prominent Types of Online Media Today. Retrieved from https://blog.skillsuccess.com/types-of-online-media/.
- Preston, L. (n.d.). What is Digital Media? Retrieved from https://www.digitallogic.co/blog/what-is-digital-media/.
- Spring 2001 Theory Workbook. (2001 February 19). Technological Determinism Theory. Retrieved from http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mass/determinism.htm.
- Wikipedia contributors. (2021, August 27). Digital media. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Digital_media&oldid=1040948121.
- Wikipedia contributors. (2021, April 11). New media. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_media&oldid=1017291468.
- Wikipedia contributors. (2021, September 2). Technological determinism. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Technological_determinism&oldid=1041981476.
