The idea of “new media”, a term that has seen many definitions since the inception of media, is extremely intriguing. While the term was coined during the Cold War, it and the anxiety that comes with it has been applied to new forms of media throughout history. Over millennia, at one point or another, books, newspaper, radio, and television were all considered “new media”.
Lisa Gitelman says, “new media is a tag for present-mindedness”. This is true – as ways of sharing media become more efficient through digital mediums, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok (among others), media can be consumed more easily and the world becomes better connected and informed because of it. I have seen first hand how social media has affected culture through influencing speech, pop culture, and providing awareness of social issues just to name a few ways. With all positive aspects of today’s new media come the anxiety about how it might negatively affect the world. Most of this criticism, in my experience, comes from traditionalists reluctant to the change the way they consume media. This divide between proponents of new media and those reluctant to accept it has raged throughout history. The omnipresent threat of obsoletism will cause new media to continue to evolve and I predict that we will see this divide continue to widen.
Interesting focus on ways of consuming media. Are social media themselves a new media, or an old media repackaged? Might you argue both sides, that social media combine old and new media in various ways depending on cultural values or desires?
The thought that the divide will widen is an interesting thought because although social media of today will not always be “new media”, the people who argue against social media will pass and we in turn will argue that the new media of the future is not “new media”. I think that the divide will not widen but that with the cycles of new media supporters will also be cycled through.
The idea you presented in this post, that there is a divide amongst media consumers, draws an interesting parallel to the generational divides and polarization in American political culture. This suggests that perhaps these divides line up, that one group being what the other group deems “out of touch” is an inevitability. I agree with your point that this divide will continue to widen, especially if generational relations maintain their current trajectory. This ties to not only the culture, but the media itself. Just as young people feel compelled to keep up with online trends, “new media” also must keep up with what the consumer wants, and try to appeal to as large of a group as possible. Since “new media is a tag for present-mindedness” but it also evolves out of what you mentioned as the “threat of obsoletism,” I wonder if we — as media consumers and as a culture — will ever be able to reconcile being “present-minded” with our constant need to evolve in order to avoid obsoletism.