Josh McMillan Blog #2

Here's my dad's home town, right next to Canada!

The differences between “old” and “new” media are vast. These differences are so complex that sometimes the only way to truly understand how they have evolved is to have lived through them. My dad, being 60, is one of these people. He grew up in rural upstate New York. So far upstate that during winters, he would often drive his snowmobile across the St. Lawrence river into Canada. Needless to say, he grew up in a very different time as I. Born in 1960, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War and moon landings were relevant topics around the time he was growing up. Through a conversation on the changes of media, I was able to see that very little remains of the media culture he grew up in.

A cover of Time Magazine from 1980

I first asked my Dad how he engaged with media when he was my age. At 20 years old he was attending a small university much like CNU.  He mostly engaged in media through local radio programming where he would listen to sports or stay current on the news around him. Whiting and Williams (2013) present seven uses and gratifications of social media. Although the radio was not social media, some the uses can be applied. Of the uses and gratifications that Whiting and Williams present (2013), my dad used the radio for information seeking, pass time, entertainment, and relaxation.  He also said TV was common but being in such a rural area he had access to cable TV later than most in America. Before cable he could watch 3 local channels, including one stationed in Canada. Print media was also often used by my Dad. He frequently read local newspapers and magazines like Time, Newsweek, and National Geographic whenever he got the chance. His answer is not atypical for the average student at that time. Right on the cusp of a transition from radio to TV many people utilized both as a mean of entertainment or information.

"Miracle on Ice", when America defeated the Soviet Union

in the Olympics, is one particular sports game my

 dad remembers listening to in 1980.

        After gauging what media was like in the past, I asked him to reflect on what are some of the most significant changes he has noticed between the media of old and current media. He summed things up nicely by saying the changes since 1980 have been “enormous”. He said the biggest change is that access to media is not limited by time anymore. The internet has allowed access to all kinds of media 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Along with this access comes the ability to choose what kind of media you want to consume. Before your interactions with media were limited to what was on but now you are seconds away from getting information on anything. The second biggest change in media he has noticed over the years is the change in social media. He talked about how media was one directional when he was younger, meaning that he consumed the media and did not help contribute to it. This has changed. Today social media allows for people to create content that others view. This sort spreading other users content is a key characteristic of Web 2.0 that we are currently in (Fuchs, 2017). This ability to create and share content creates a "participatory culture" that allows my dad and millions others to interact with media that wasn't possible when they were my age (Fuchs, 2017, p.67). My Dad also talks about how he now gets most of his news from his social media. In fact, he says the main reason he has a Twitter is to keep up on current events without having to watch the news or google stories. Of Whiting and Williams’ (2013) uses and gratifications of social media, this shows my dad uses his social media greatly for information seeking. While this was also true when he was younger, the way he is doing so is drastically different. According to the social media statistics we looked at in class, my dad having a social media account also puts him in the 68% of adults who use a social media site.

Finally, the third biggest change he’s seen in media over the last 40 years was the evolution of print media. He talked about how today, newspaper is used mostly as fire starter in the house. This is drastically different from when he was in college and getting most of his news and a good bit of entertainment from print sources. He states that today he not only doesn’t use print sources, but he also doesn’t go on their websites or subscribe online. This shows a small example of the big problem that traditional print media sources are facing today.

Conversation was flowing and he began to tell me about specific memories he had engaging with media when he was younger. He remembers being so excited when he finally brought the newest

Beatles album cover

Beatles vinyl to play on his record player. He says that same excitement seems to have faded when clicking a button to add an album to his library almost instantly. He also felt like having to be present at a certain time to watch a show or listen to a game made the event feel more important. He used to never miss listening to Yankees games on the radio. Today he is much more likely to be okay with not watching a game and being able to look up the highlights after wards. These examples embody the general feeling of things being easier but not necessarily better.

Hearing about “old” media from someone that lived it was an insightful experience. I was able to gather a few general ideas about the differences between medias of old and present. The thing I didn’t previously think about was the aspect of timing. Content consumers’ schedule in the past was at the mercy of programmers. If I had a particular interest in the news and it only played at 8 every night, then I would have to schedule my day around being free at 8 to watch the news. The same can be said for a favorite TV show, sports team, or radio show. Consumers had no other choice of when to consume this content. Although much less convenient, it does provide a sense of importance in the content. This also likely led to families consuming content together at the same time. Today, a family can have a particular show they love and all watch. However, I could watch it at 3 in my room while my sister watches it in the living room. My mom could watch it before work and my dad after his work. Although these times are what is most convenient to each of us individually, it creates a feeling of “so what” if you miss an episode. There is always another time you can watch it.

The differences between “old” and “new” media are even greater than what I thought before talking to my dad. The last 40 years have provided changes in the way that we consume information and entertainment in ways once thought unimaginable. Talking about these changes I began to wonder what insight I will have 40 years down the road. How will media change for our generation? If anything like the last 40 years, media will continue to be available to more and more people and that media will continue to make things in our lives easier and more effortless. The differences will vary person by person, but one thing is certain. The media we now know as “new”, will soon be what students in communication classes learn about as the media of “old”.

References

Fuchs, C. (2017). Social media: A critical introduction. Sage.

Whiting, A., & Williams, D. (2013). Why People Use Social Media: A Uses and Gratifications Approach. Qualitative Market Research 16(4), 362-369). doi:10.1108/QMR-06-2013-0041