Explore New Media: Digital Media

The word “media” applies to many things in the 21st century from mass media to news media and traditional media to the many emerging forms of digital media.

The presence of new media or digital media in particular have posed a challenge to the traditional media such as newspapers. Readership habits seem to be changing as users turn to the Internet for free news and information. The ‘instant’ feature of the social media and the online platforms have a vast preference along with the flexible features. This media is one of the smart options for the consumers which has been accepted globally. Moreover, the ample amount of information and news provided by the internet is updated every second that is never expected to be enjoyed while reading a newspaper that is received only once in a day. One has to go back to the same page of the newspaper for a specific piece of information with the struggle of storing on a rack which is very much tiring.

Over this time, the print media paradigm has flourished in the internet era where instant access to information and entertainment using smart phones is easier. The dynamics of information access has significantly changed over the years, with the number of smartphone users in India. The country carries about 20 million users. As per the statistics, the print circulation has been declining over the past few years.

The new media began to unfold in the second half of the 20th century, as computer technology slowly sneaked into multiple industries and then moved to society. The  analog method remained dominant since the 1990s such as  newspapers, magazines, radio, and broadcast television.

 Now, most people walk around with at least one digital media device in their pocket, purse or backpack using digital communication at work and even while going out for dinner or shopping. Later, one can come home to relax and play a video game or stream a live show, interacting with new things and spaces each day. After then, one can talk to their digital home assistant, find out the weather forecast and even connect with other devices to work without moving around. It is rapidly evolving innovations in technology alongside. Holographic and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are developed and incorporated into our daily lives.

Traditional media includes non digital services of communication technologies, some of which have existed for hundreds of years. Newspapers, magazines, books, and other printed materials were among those. The digital era, however, meant a whole new set of media transmission methods and devices with more enhanced versions every year. These days most of the types of digital media fit into such subgroups:

• Audio: Audio is form of digital media that includes digital radio stations, podcasts, and audible books available digitally. 

• Video: The visual and audio mixture is streamed online such as  movies, web series and television shows in platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime to virtual reality surgical simulators used in medical institutions. One of the biggest players in visual digital media is YouTube, which hosts billions of videos each day.

• Social media: Social media includes sites such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Snapchat which enable users to interact with one another through text posts,  audio or video calls and leaving “likes” and comments to create conversations around any trending topics such as  pop culture, sports, news, politics, economy etc.

• Advertising: Advertising commercials have made their way into the digital media landscape while taking advantage of marketing partnerships and advertising space wherever possible. The internet has moved from the use of pop-up to autoplay advertisements and flooded early websites and drove away visitors. Nowadays advertisers look towards the visitors native content and other methods of keeping consumers invested without overselling their product.

• News, literature, and more: Traditionally, people consumed text via books, print newspapers, magazines etc. Even though digital media has proliferated, the desire for those kinds of reading experiences has endured. The proliferation of literary websites, the popularity of resources like Wikipedia have raised e-readers like the Kindle and underline the importance of written work in digital media.

The significant innovations in new media are : 

•  Google is a revolutionary search engine with spurred brand. It was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Google has become a massive, multinational technology company, developing all things that are internet-friendly including its own web browser, laptops (Chromebooks), smart glasses and internet television streams. 

• Netflix was launched in 1997 as an online-based rental service. In this people could make their wish list of films, web series, shows and binge watch them either online or offline. Netflix has grown from third-party movie distributor to online streaming giant with over million subscribers paying monthly or yearly.

• Facebook and Twitter are two of the biggest social media website platforms. 

Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and LinkedIn also have substantial user bases in the hundreds of millions or more. Where as Telegram , Orkut and Tiktok  platforms can be incredibly useful for enhancement of businesses and engagement.  

• Major players in the business world advertise their brands through such platforms and develop marketing at a large space. For example, Facebook owns Instagram and other platforms such as WhatsApp. Additionally, Google owns multiple web ventures including YouTube. As generations that grew up with social media get older and new users come of age, the number of people on these platforms will likely continue to grow.
• Amazon is a digital commerce or e commerce site with an enormous presence in the digital media sphere. The company is one of the world’s largest markets according to Investopedia. From Amazon Prime and its accompanying streaming service to Alexa personal assistants, cloud service, and digital advertising, the company has an exponential presence online. 

All above aspects depict that we are all in a digital age. Whether to keep up with the appetites of the modern Consumer or to increase branding or interact with two way processes. There are clear opportunities to use digital media over traditional that draws negativity such as being restrictive, one way process. The time has come where old ways are turning obsolete and digital media is making its impact with its rapid change across the globe in a matter of minutes. It’s time to say goodbye to the traditional media and accept the utmost convenient method that is New or Digital Media.