Blog #2 old vs new media

"Old" vs. "New" Media: How Media has Changed

In today’s society we are constantly receiving new information on all types of media however, it has not always been this way. For people my age, we have to understand information overload, fake news, and on a positive can always find any information we may want. As stated, it has not always been like this which has developed a clear digital divide between my generation and those older than me. Fuchs (2017) explained that this digital divide we see between the “old” and “new” media is from the generational gap. There are aspects of my life that seem to feel controlled by media that individuals in older generations either do not understand or are not affected by. As I began to examine the differences between “old” and “new” Fuchs’s (2017) quote that “all media and all software are social in the sense that they are products of social processes” (pg. 41) stood out to me. Being born in 1998, I have only experienced or remembered online social media, not the media from papers, news, radio, and phone contact. 

To greater understand the differences between “old” and “new” media I interviewed my 58-year-old Aunt Nita. I chose to talk to my aunt because she actively uses Facebook and Instagram now and I thought it would be interesting to see how her usage of media has changed over time. Initially, I needed to look at how I grew up with media to fully grasp the differences. I was never the child that had my parents’ phone, computer, and iPad did not exist yet. As a child, the only technology I used was for educational games, so I was never connecting with others or gaining social information. It was not until I was 14 that I made my first Facebook and then Instagram right after. Although I spent most of my childhood of social platforms and technologies I still knew that I could see local and national news at almost all times of the day and could easily contact people from anywhere in the country. Therefore, I knew media had a somewhat large effect on my childhood however, I was aware that it had a much larger effect than it did on my aunt. 

The first form of media I assumed had changed the most was news coverage. Now, you can turn on CNN, FOX, ABC, and so many more channels at any time of the day and find local, national, or international news. Not only can you constantly find it on tv, it is always available online, on the apps, or even in the collective news app that apple has. When I asked my aunt how she received news she immediately remembered watching the 6 o’clock news that showed local news and then 6:30 for the national news every night with her family. This greatly contrasts from my “new media” experience because news watching is no longer a family event. She also mentioned the importance of the daily newspaper and that her town has a morning and evening news paper that had two different names so readers knew which came first. The papers had news from the area and all forms of important information on events as well. She said when she was in middle and high school she often liked getting the newspaper and looking through it with her mom. The only experience I could think of in my high school years similar to this would be sharing Facebook articles or videos with my mom as we sit across the room from each other. 

The next question I asked was just what significant changes she sees within media today and when she was my age. She initially said, “Well everything has changed!” and then went into a little more detail on how her biggest difference is how she keeps in contact with friends through media. She mentioned how connected we can be to everyone and everything now because our cell phones are so small but as she grew up you either had to use the home phone on the wall and look up numbers in the phone book or just go to your friend’s house to ask whatever you needed. I asked if she still felt as connected then and her response surprised me, She stated that she felt just as connected but that was only because she only knew people close to her therefore, she didn’t know that she could possibly be connected to someone across the country or around the world. She said now she does use the “new” media and social platforms to keep in touch with her nieces and nephews, friends from home, and to find out new information on any of her hobbies. The connection she feels now she said is much greater but her social circle is also much larger. 

The last aspect of media she told me about was radio. Radio was huge for her she said because of how much she enjoyed music and how much her and her friends bonded over it. For her, radio was the most portable form of media and what connected her to the most people. She compared radio to how podcasts are now and that even if it was a radio show or music, everyone could talk about it and create social interactions from it. I thought it was incredibly interesting that because she was involved in “old” and “new” media she was able to compare both for me and really explain how it has changed completely in so many ways but in some ways it has just advanced. 

 In conclusion, “old” and “new” media are incredibly different due to the technological advances and the abilities that “new” media has to connected people globally on any and every topic. “New” media allows the public to have any type of information at their fingertips while “old” media made media consumption a much more relaxed experience. What I noticed was that “old” media seemed to create more social interaction and promote family time while “new” media allows the public to be buried in their phone even when they are surrounded by people they could and probably should be interacting with. My experience with media is incredibly different from my aunts but, it is interesting that even with the generation gap she has been able to learn and socialize herself to use these platforms and remain connected to her younger family members and friends. 

References:

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