Technology
has shifted the characteristics of mass media because we now expect individualize
approaches, and we dictate where and how we choose to consume content (Lăzăroiu, 2010). As patrons of mass media, we expect
customized content, and we will no long only accept one program, at one time,
in one place I remember as a child I had
to watch whatever was on TV at any given time, even if the programming was
awful. We did not have a choice because
we had to watch what national networks chose for us e.g. Small
Wonder.
Now,
we have the ability to watch what we want, where we want, and when we want to
watch it. From experience, I watch the
BBC show Downtown Abbey on my iPad
while I am running on a treadmill. I
even watch the British version instead of the US version because we now have
choices in mass media.
“Communication, and in particular the new forms of
communication, depend today, more than ever, on the development of technology
and on the conditions in which it is introduced” (Moragas,
1990). We no longer only watch TV shows, but we
watch videos created by amateurs, shows made only for streaming services, and
movies that have never been released on a big screen. For example, the popular documentary, Making a Murder has inundated social media
feeds and while Netflix does not release audience data, Paul Tassi from Forbes magazine wrote “"I have never
seen a show consume the pop culture conversation like this outside of when
programs like 'The Walking Dead' and 'Game of Thrones' kill off a
major character," (Tassi, 2016). All this, and it was only available through a
streaming service.
As a
society we spend less time sitting down and more time moving from place to
place, we have too much to do to simply relax. When we do get a chance to
relax, it’s most likely in front of a computer, and thanks to the popularity of
websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the internet has surpassed
television as the place where young people spend most of their time (Spider Magazine, 2012). It is clear that technology has shifted the way
we consume mass media.
References:
Lăzăroiu, G. (2010). Conceptualizing the changing
dynamics of mediated communication and the flow of mass-mediated realities. Geopolitics,
History, and International Relations, 176-184.
Moragas, M. d. (1990). New Technology and Changes
in the Mass Media. Barcelona.
Spider Magazine. (2012, June 12). The Changing
Face of Mass Media. Retrieved from Dawn: http://www.dawn.com/news/733766/the-changing-face-of-mass-media
Tassi, P. (2016, January 3). Why 'Making a
Murderer' Is Netflix's Most Significant Show Ever. Retrieved from Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/01/03/why-making-a-murderer-is-netflixs-most-significant-show-ever/#e9274aa5c00e
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