What is New Media?

New media is the new age way of using computer technology as a way to make communication easier. There are many different things that fall into the "new media" category such as email, chat rooms, video streaming, digital cameras, web sites, and many others. As we push to a more technological world, the internet is becoming more important to our daily lives. If you look back to when you were in school and had to do some research, you would usually have to go to the library to look in encyclopedias for the information you needed. Now, this generation is so advanced in technology that a child can just turn on their computer and look up the information they need on the world wide web. It is at the point where the internet is needed in every home because teachers now assume internet access is common for 21st century children.

"New media" is replacing "old media" and a big part of this reason comes from the internet. In the article "Who Needs A TV? I'm Watching On My Laptop", by Laura M. Holson, Holson talks about the lack of need for a television. She says, "I don't need one: the major networks and many other broadcasters have made it easy to find their shows free online." Some people may see "new media" being good for all but there are some who may not like the evolution of technology. In the article "Old media hits the skids as new models roil the market", by Joyce Hanson, she brings up a great point about music labels. "The old media business suffering the most in the new media upheaval may be music labels. In 2007, companies were beset by plunging album sales and shrinking profit margins. While sales of single songs have been rising, sales of traditional albums had fallen a whopping 15% through Dec. 16, according to Nielsen SoundScan." With the emergence of iTunes, people are now leaning towards just buying the singles that they like instead of purchasing the whole album.

In our world today, "new media" plays a huge role. As the years go by, the role it plays will only get bigger. So that leaves us with the question, are we going to embrace the new technology, or are we going to be "Scrooges" and complain about the new way of communication. Either way, to survive in this new world, adaptation is key!