With the invention of the internet came an infinite number of possibilities for just about any media outlet. The internet also permitted the restructuring of itself in order to better meet people's needs and encourage participation. The article that I feel describes this the best would be "The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson. Within the first page and a half of the article, Anderson discusses how the internet helped to encourage buyers to buy a book that had nearly been forgotten just because it was of the same genre of a new, popular book. Because of software created specifically by internet users, these types of associations are possible, and even something as traditional as bookselling has been transformed by its audience to work, simply, better.
This topic relates to many different "old media." Lets use the book first. When books first came out, they required people to read them to absorb the information. Once the digital age hit, people could go online or onto their ipod, see the words to the book, and also listen to a narration. This would never have been possible if it were not for the digital age, and the only reason this change was able to come about in the first place was because the users demanded it. Radio will be the next medium that I explain, and this medium is fairly easy to understand. To explain radio, I will use the rapidly growing example of Pandora. Pandora takes the idea of radio and is actually BASED upon the users contributing to it and helping to transform the medium in their own image. For example, I transformed the generic Pandora stations into very complex radio stations with a very specific music styling. This would never have been possible would it not have been for the digital age. The last example that I will use is the example of television and film. With the digital age came the creation of YouTube, the online video giant. This website, like Pandora, was based upon its users. Users could now use their video-editing software to put together videos, and then use the digitally based YouTube to share them with the world. This absolutely changed the way we as people looked at video and opened up a huge number of new horizons.
As far as traditional theory goes, McLuhan's theory of Technological Determinism and the theory of "hot" and "cold" mediums also applies. According to the theory of Technological Determinism, technology determines the social change. In this case, the digital technology led to a change that permitted and encouraged the participation in these newly created digital mediums. The "hot" and "cold" medium theories apply when looking at the transformation of the media themselves. Prior to the digital age, it would be fair to say that most media were considered "cold" such as film and television, as they did not permit much participation by their audiences. However, with the introduction of digital media, each of these mediums has been changed to be "hot" mediums, as they encourage and even rely on participation to prosper, grow, and succeed.
Media Affected:
Newspaper - Online Newspaper
Video/TV - Youtube
Video Games - Modding
Radio - Pandora
Journals - Blogs/Facebook
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