New Digital Media

730 Words3 Pages
The development of new/digital media means the audience is more powerful in terms of consumption and production. Discuss the arguments for and against this view. There are both arguments to support and disagree with the idea that “the development of new/digital media means the audience is more powerful in terms of consumption and production”. On one hand audiences now take on a less passive role in regards to the media, however on the other hand institution still regulates what can actually be accessed by the audiences and some elements of the media are still censored and controlled. In regards to the audience gaining more powerful in terms of production of media , online sites such as ‘Youtube’ and ‘Facebook’ allow audience in effect to leave the past passive status of the audience behind , with audiences creating media to release to the wider society. Many people now use websites such as ‘Youtube’ to publicize their talents such as musical talents etc in a quick and easy way, which in the past would have been far more difficult. By doing so the audience is both gaining more power and receiving personal gratifications. Also it is possible for the general public to make money through their uploaded video’s by sharing revenue with the ‘Youtube’ institution itself , giving the audience power in a financial way. Another way in which the audience gains power through new and digital media is through social networking sites and VoIP, which reflect the globalization of the media, landscape today. For example ‘Skype’ acts as a means of communication across the world allowing audiences to do business across the world with little difficulty and expense. As well as ‘Skype’ social networking site ‘Facebook’ allows audience to broadcast information to hundreds, even thousand of people at one time, whether this be business information, advertising or simply general
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