When talking about New Media, a variation of things can occur in ones mind. In my mind, it makes me think of the internet, social networking sites and smart phones. It can be said that the internet offers both freedoms and constraints in equal measure, it just does these things differently. The new media began to challenge the corporate on ownership of the press and in time, large corporations took over the internet, as well as all aspects of new media. One of the best examples of this is Apple and how now they have taken over the market of smart phones and also now sell thousands of laptops and computers each year. The internet is thought to possess qualities that differentiate it from old media. An example of this is how normal people have the ability to produce content. YouTube has more content than anything that has ever been broadcasted in the UK. Ultimately, this can portray the way in which the internet has enabled people to add content on to one particular website such as YouTube. The internet has also allowed for communication and disseminate content with others without going via a central distribution point. However, even with restrictions on the internet there is often ways of working around these barriers. A personal example is at my secondary school most of the internet was banned (especially sites such as Bebo and Facebook) as all the students would sit in their ICT lessons and talk via social networking sites. However, someone found a code which enabled us to access these websites by just putting in a code, therefore allowing us to work around such barriers.
Generative Media
Generative Media are technologies that allow the user to do something creative with the specific technologies. An example of this is - a TV is not generative, but a computer is. Explaining this, a TV can only be used for one specific thing which is watching TV, however you can use a computer to do many different things, watch TV, watch DVD's, play games, social network, shop and so on. It is individuals who are making content and it can also be said that it is individuals who put out content via networks.
Network Media
A network media is a non-hierarchical and bilateral system of links, the two types of these are as followed;
1. Electronical infrastructual (hardware and network systems)
2. Social and Human (links made possible by hardware - both existing and new) E.g. Facebook you can contact your family.
Networks also allow new patterns of distribution to emerge outside large corporations.
The Chicago School offers a model of regulation. They propose we think about regulation of the individual as occurring in 4 separate ways;
1. Law - The Law regulates us by threatening sanctions if we violate it.
2. Social Norms - Social Norms are not administered through central authority. An example of this is when you meet someone, you know to shake someone's hand rather than lick their face.
3. Market - The market regulates how much you can consume. It is a constraint on action but is different from sanctions.
4. Architecture - Architecture is not just a physical building, but the forms of constraint that prevent us from doing something. For example, tinted windows on a car regulates out vision)
All of the above are the 'modalities of regulation'. Any changes in one of the modalities will affect the regulated activity. However, some of these are much more powerful than others. E.g. Privacy - law is much stronger than social norms. Yet all are seen as fairly effective.
This is a model for justifying a weak state but is useful when thinking about the regulation and control of online behaviour. Ultimately, it allows a greater sophistication than solely legal means.
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