Media Essay

“Digital media have, in many ways, changed how we consume media products” who do you think benefits most audiences or producers?

In today’s modern society, the media has in many ways changed the way in which we consume media products. It has essentially made it a lot easier for audiences to consume media products as a result of new and digital media, in specific; E-media. In comparison to print and broadcast platforms, which were once categorized at the top of the hierarchy, E-media has now taken over and is considered one of the main platforms in regard to media consumption, as audiences have now become active whereas they were once considered passive. Unlike before, Web 2.0 and new and digital media has now enabled audiences to consume media products more actively as now they are considered producers as well as consumers. This is achieved as audiences are now able to voice their opinions as a result of UGC (user generated content). This gives them power and in effect changes the way in which we consume media products today.

The use of E-media has incredibly increased over the last ten years according to the ‘Podcast News’ where people spend 32.7hours a week on the internet. This can be considered a result of the audiences increasing interests in social networking as 23.6hours out of 32.7 is spent on social networking sites alone. However, current major Social networking sites such as Facebook and Youtube that had emerged in 2004 have now over a million registered users. This indicates that social networking sites have now become a “norm” for society as it gratifies audiences need of entertainment as well as social interaction. Therefore everyone now feels they need to be a registered member because if they are not, then on some occasions they feel they aren’t fitting in as well with others that are. Furthermore, although using Facebook for example eliminates communication problems that people may have if they are shy or physically unable to converse face to face, sites such as these enable them to gain their confidence and communicate via networking sites in various ways e.g. Facebook chat and private messaging. This also gratifies the audience’s need of support in regard to communication. However Facebook is now being criticised for “dumbing down” its audiences according to Marxist theorists such as Karl Max. Marx argues sites such as Facebook and Youtube are exploiting the minds of the vulnerable. He describes this as the “elite” dominating and undermining those under them. This is done through majority of the adverts seen on networking pages that are paid to be there or even messages being sent out to branch out in business matters. This according to Marx influences how we think and therefore we as passive audiences are unconsciously being brainwashed. Therefore to an extent it can be argued that we as audiences are now consuming media products in the way we are influenced by the elite to do so and in effect the elite benefit the most.

Networking sites are now leading its audiences to become fully dependant on them. Facebook which is now owned by Google gratifies their needs of entertainment and social interaction. Therefore, people now communicate via Facebook and Twitter a lot more than they would in real life. As a result we consume media products a lot more as we are now fully dependent on the internet’s networking sites spending majority of our time on it and in effect creating a privatised relationship with the internet by revealing our personal details and communicating through websites. This reveals how much we rely and trust networking sites, as we are more than happy to reveal personal details over the internet. However, media convergence has played a major role in changing the way we consume media products and creating that privatised relationship with networking sites. Smart phones i.e iPhone and Blackberry’s all have Facebook applications and Youtube apps luring its audiences into using them a lot more frequently. This is because it allows consumers to access things in their own time and space, and therefore meeting their needs. As a result it reaches out to a mass audience and gratifies their needs, giving them the power to chose when and where to visit and communicate via networking sites. Therefore, overall audiences are given a lot more power as a result of web2.0 and new and digitial media which effects how we consume media products as we now consume, produce and do things according to our own will as active audiences.