Summary of the lecture:
The origins of the term "New Media" are in the late 1980's and 1990's when digital and computerized media started to gain space from the "old" media, such as printed publications, television and radio. Digital technology made it possible to have forms of media that are more interactive, networked and social. Manovich (2002) defines New Media as a "mix between existing cultural conventions and conventions of software".
Since early 1990's fast growth of Internet and the World Wide Web the social networks has become central in New Media. Today we may see that the social nature of the Internet has been and is the success factor behind the New Media. It can be argued that New Media has become and its essence is something where social factors and software meet, co-exist and interact.
The merge of social and software seems to have high impact to the ways people socialize, form groups, make meaning, collaborate and learn. For instance Wikipedia, new urban activism and emergence of peer-to-peer learning are examples where people are using New Media - social and software - creatively to participate in and to organize new kind of activities with significant impact to culture.
Additional information:
Kadri Kaljurand
Finnish Institute
tel 742 7319
kadri.kaljurand [at] finst.ee