Blog #2: Old vs. New Media

Old vs. New Media – Blog #2 

            Being born in 1999 has allowed my generation to experience a life mainly consumed with media. Although growing up, we were never given an iPad to play with, the relevance that media has placed within our lives is detrimental. Constantly drooling over television as a child has corresponded to the important role media plays within my life to this day. In comparison, my 62-year-old Aunt grew up when media technologies were not an important role within her life, and she was almost forced to learn to incorporate these technologies within her life to this day. In contrast to the current day my Aunt states, “When I was your age, newspaper was big. You got the morning and night paper, as well as the Sunday paper. Almost everything was translated through the newspaper”. In contrast to my aunt’s experience as a child, news is currently broadcasted on numerous television channels, social media platforms, and websites. The news is constant, allowing individuals to stay in touch of what is going on around them. One relevant difference between “old” and “new” media is the consistency and the easy access the current media now promotes. My Aunt states, “The newspaper is going out of style; majority of stuff now is on television media or sent to your phone”. 

Another source of media that has changed throughout the years is the quality of television and the picture itself of the media we consume. My Aunt states, “TV was in black and white when I was younger. There was also no remote control to change the channels”. In correlation to the television we view today, the picture on the TV is crystal clear and the quality is phenomenal. Growing up I remember the picture on the television not being as clear as it is to the current day, but everything was in color. The privilege of having colored television screens is taken for granted because majority of my generation has never lived with anything other than that. My Aunt highlights the numerous changes within television because she states that she “loves television”! In correlation to the picture on TV’s she mentioned the difference of the quality of the movies she has consumed. She states, “the quality of the movies has changed. We never had HD, no streaming services either. Also, to adjust the picture we had rabbit ears”. Many of these qualities that are placed within today’s culture are often taken for granted. 

Q: What are the most significant changes you can identify within the media today and the media when you were my age? 

·      Cell phones- “In my 20’s we had bulky cell phones and pagers, nothing like the ones you see today” 

·      Radio- “Walkman; portable radio used for listening to music or cassette tapes”

·      Computers- “Growing up we didn’t have computers. I remember when computers first came about it was a BIG deal” 

·      “EVERYTHING has changed. Something as small as the color on the TV to the remote we use. We didn’t have anything like that when I was younger. Even when I went to my friend’s house, there was no cable- only channels 6, 8, and 12”

The difference between “old” and “new” media has dramatically changed throughout the years. The drastic change between the picture itself on the television we consume, but as well as the concept and idea of the “cell phone” and how that ideal has become a part of us. Within the “new” media, the public has depended on technology itself for particular tasks. For example, now people are able to go online and shop for their groceries and have them delivered to their car in the parking lot. The “new” media has allowed our current generations to become very reliant on the material they are able to consume through media, so without it we feel as if we are nothing. For example, in 2019 Instagram crashed for 10 hours, allowing the public to go insane. Sean Keach (2019) states that “tens of thousands of users complained that the apps and websites would no longer load content…”. For just a short period of time, the public was unable to contain their self because of the shortage break down within a particular app. I remember myself constantly clicking on the app trying to refresh new content and getting frustrated. It’s as if I was wanting to go on the app more because it was such a habit. A major difference between the “old” and “new” media is the reliability that is placed within the media currently, compared to when my Aunt was my age. A particular source of media that has changed overtime that stuck out to me is the television remote. Although I was aware of remote are a fairly new piece of technology, I have taken for granted something so small that corresponds to the laziness of our current generations.

Q: How did you experience media when you were my age? 

·      “I used media for schoolwork, for current events (mainly newspaper)”.

·      Household phone- “I used this to socialize with my close-knit friends. Paying the phone bill was always through the mail, I remember having to pick it up”. 

·      Overhead Projector- “I remember when we got these in school it was a BIG deal”.

·      TV- “We occasionally watched TV in school, showing events that were happening”  

In conclusion, there are many different aspects of “new” vs. “old” media and how they positively and negatively affect our daily life. Another major aspect the “new” media places on society, aside from the quality and accessibility of media, is the concept that almost everything is considered to be a form of “social media”. Fuchs (2017) states that, “all media and all software are social in the sense that they are products of social processes” (pg. 41). In comparison to the “old” media, it’s a tough pill to swallow when media is surrounding the world, we live in. Overall, my Aunt’s experience with media and media technologies is completely different than mine. As years go on, media will constantly evolve and change into something completely different than what it is today. 

References:

Fuchs, Christian. (2017). Social media; A critical introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. 

Keach, S. (2019, July 18). Gram slam Instagram down- app not working for second time in just 24 hours. Retrieved from https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/9535873/instagram-down-not-working-offline-app/.