Sunday, 18 September 2011

Media convergence

This week blogging – ‘The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence’ from Henry Jenkins
What is media convergence? Media convergence means that the use of several media on the same time. The typical example is that when we doing our assignment, we will use Microsoft word, listen to music, chat with friends, using social network – Facebook on the same time. Basically is media convergence means multitasking. People will not want to own a device that does not have much function or application. Now, even a basic mobile phone has mp3 function, camera, video recorder, can online and so on. This is known as the shift of technology.

The new technology/ new media

I remember when I was young, I did not know what is Internet but now, we can’t survive without Internet. The internet is the basic need for everyone now. People used internet to search for information, get information, for social purpose and even for education like e-learning, for assignment and so on. The widely used of the internet shows the shift of technology from traditional technology like books to internet. Like me, I rather used Internet to search for information instead of books. It is because internet has wider information and its very convenience.
 Another typical example of technology shift

The author stated that media convergence impacts the way we consume the media. It is very true because we multitasking every day. For example, we use mobile photo to take picture, edit it and post in on Facebook or mail it to other people. While we edit the photo, we may on the mp3 player on mobile phone – typical multitasking. As i mention just now, I used Microsoft word to type my assignments, listen to music, and chat with my friends, on Facebook and sometimes, I even watch the television program while i'm doing my assignemnt. We are multitasking at every minute, every seconds because of the new technology.
The uses of mobile phone/laptop/tablets/pc

The author stated that “Media convergence is more than simply a technological shift.” The author means that media convergence also link to the shift of technologies, industries, audience and so on. The shift of technologies and industries had focus on the internet because internet is the basic for people. Because of that, the behavior of audience also changed. One of it is that, audience behavior has change from passive to active. For example, last time, audience from traditional media is passive which they just take what it showed on television without giving any opinion or comments while the audience on the new media – Internet is very active. They can give comments; speak out their thoughts on Internet. For example, Harry Potter fans can share their thoughts, opinion and feeling with others fan on internet like forum or even social network like Facebook.

“Convergence is also a risk for creative industries because it requires media companies to rethink old assumptions about what it means to consume media” – Jenkins

The companies have to rethink what the consumer wants and the consumer needs in this new era. They need to make changes in order to fit to the audience and to attract the audience attention. For example, many people do their business online because Internet has larger audience, no physical borders, free and so on. Many companies have their own webpage and advertise online to attract people’s attention or create awareness. Traditional media like newspaper also have online news because people do not read newspaper but read news online. For example, The Star newspaper has its own webpage which called The Star Online. A business that does not change accordingly or follow the trend will be outdated, difficult to fit in the society, and even get eliminated from the market.

As a conclusion, the media convergence changes the way we consume media, our daily life as we attached to our mobile phone, communicate with the new technology more than communicate with people. People will spend more time with the new technology instead of the time with people. Therefore, media convergence had its bad and goods. Do you agree with me?

6 comments:

  1. Hi Jia Jing! I didn't realized that I am a kind of multitasking people until I read your post. Or should be said in this way, everyone are multitasking nowadays.

    It's not very hard to find out that how Internet had actually gives out so much impact in our life since it's born. Internet had become our physical/ artificial oxygen just like what you said that Internet is our basic needs now.

    Everything we do now is the example of media convergence. Internet is the main platform now to fulfill what we want. Also, smart phone, another devices that we can't leave without. Is like we have some kind of disease and only smart phone can fix us. Every time when we go for lunch with friends, the first things that we do is not eat the food but is take the photo of the foods, that's sound weird but we really tend to behave in this way.

    Because of media convergence, we are tend to be more sharing than consuming, don't you think so? I agree that with the advanced of technology, it had really helps in our life at least it helps us in minimizing the problem.

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  2. Exactly, we are in the media convergence space! We are always multitasking everyday. Internet, Smartphone and any devices, they are like the things we could not lack of nowadays. It is because they have provide us the informations, visual, audio and most importantly the convenience.

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  3. Yup, i agree with you, when i was in primary school, we have the computer tuition, but what we learn is just Microsoft word all that. we don't even know how to access internet, but for the young generation, they don't have attend computer, they already know how to used computer.

    Last time mobile phone was only black and white, but the more advance the mobile phone have now. everyone have at lease one mobile phone, which not only texting or calling , with the mp3, WiFi function and so on.

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  4. Hey Jia Jing!!
    Your blog reminds me about my childhood, yes i was one of them who do not know what internet is and how to use them. In fact when i first had internet in my house when i was 11 and i was so scared to use it. Now internet means nothing to kids today. They are so well verse in using all this devices. Kids today uses iPad to do their homework and as a hobby too. IPads these days has set to replace textbook in certain countries such as U.S.

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  5. 'People will spend more time with the new technology instead of the time with people.'

    I like this sentence so much and I am so agree with you. People now always play with their high-tech gadgets no matter where they are, when is it and who are they with. People now are more concern how to win in the game in iPhone, taking pictures to upload to Facebook, checking in where they are and more. But they do not realize they do not interact much with people around them anymore. Some of them even interacting each other by Facebook-ing through phone even though they are sitting next to each other.

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  6. Yes, I agree with the 'bad' you mention, nowadays, peoples talk with the technologies more than facing each other because of the reason the technology provides convenient for them and make their life easier like without walking out the room, they can have a feast through online ordering and ask for delivering. This is what technologies made the life simple. However, this function will make the society groom the ‘lazy culture’ phenomenon. Besides that, there is a bad phenomenon that proof the bad you mention which is in Malaysia, there is a ‘yum cha’ habits and the technologies makes people look on the phone more than the people face to communication and peoples’ head always looking down for their devices.
    But, through these devices, life had become more comfortable and simple such as we can get any information anytime with any devices that can online and it can let us do anything without spending any transportation fee. As nowadays, ‘internet is not everything, but without internet, everything can be nothing’.

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