“Twitter is not only an engine of microblogging but also a microcosm of the new new media world, in which blogging, advertising, dissemation of photos and videos, campaigns for Diggs and seeking and maintenance of online “friendship” takes place on a moment-by-moment basis.”
I thought that this description of Twitter by Paul Levinson in New New Media captured what new media does to communication. Exemplified by Twitter, new media combines a variety of facets of communication which used to be separated by their appropriate mediums. On Twitter a person can, using this single medium, keep in touch with friends, promote their own professional work, document their day-to-day life and be paid to sponsor a product. Connections made on Twitter can be professional, personal or linger between the two.
Youtube
“Youtube provides audio-visual records of events on television that would otherwise be gone the instant they conclude- or in the case of John Kerry’s 2008 speech, incompletely broadcast or not at all.”
I find it interesting how the internet can act as an archive for events and publications easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Miss yesterday’s newspaper? No worries, every article printed, and more, can be found online. I found it interesting that Levinson points out that Youtube can do this for television. If you miss a speech or a sporting event you are almost guaranteed to be able to find it on Youtube to be viewed at your leisure. However, while this is far more convenient for those who have a multitude of obligations, this does take away from the sense of community that the entire nation coming together around their radio or television to watch the president deliver a speech.
Blogs
“Jarvis, then, sees money as putting literal words in bloggers’ mouths- or via their fingers in their blogs- while Sirota sees the desire to increase the number of readers, to increase advertising revenue, as leading to the writing of blogs of “outrageous lies.”
As a journalism student, I took a course last semester called the “Business of News” and we took a close look at blogs and the role they play in the future of journalism. We read Ryan Holiday’s book, Trust Me I’m Lying, in which he describes how he manipulates blogs and their deficiencies, to control the media. He seemingly does so very effectively, using anonymous tips to smaller, less-reputable blogs to drive the stories picked up by larger blogs and possibly well established news sources, all by feeding off a writers desire to increase the number of “hits” their blogs get. I feel that Levinson should have payed closer attention to this deficiency of blogs, and how new media can also be detrimental.