Overall, author Lisa Gitelman suggests that the purpose of new media is “to study the contemporary moment” and follows the “perennial newness of media”. In her discussion of American exceptionalism, I was forced to contemplate both the advantages and burdens in our current climate of continual advancements in media. Significantly, I believe that “new media” contributes greatly to our ability to stay connected globally, however, for countries such as the United States, these capabilities in many cases have caused more harm than good. For example, I think of the 2016 election. Our present political social life is fraught with conflicting information and “snip-its” of headlines that make wild accusations of either side. Demonstrably, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter played a larger role in the lives of voters than ever before. Moreover, the U.S. Intelligence concluded through the Mueller Report that groups of Russians targeted voter registration systems or state websites in at least 21 states before Election Day and spread misinformation through popular social media platforms with the intention of “boost Trump’s chances and sow distrust in American democracy overall” (Time Magazine’s Abigail Abrams). Suffice it to say, current examples of “new media” through advancements in technology such as the Russian collusion can have significant effects on the essential systems of American society.
“Here’s What We Know So Far About Russia’s 2016 Meddling”: http://time.com/5565991/russia-influence-2016-election/
In the blogging platform, feel free to directly link resources rather than providing a reference. For more academic work, a reference is important, but on the blog, linking title to the original will suffice. Does “media” or “new media” itself have an ideology? That is, does the term or concept of “new media” itself represent some kind of political or social agenda?