DIGITAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL MEDIA & TECHNOLOGIES
DIGITAL MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
- Digital media are integral to everyday life (work, socializing, entertainment)
- Understanding requires analysis of social, cultural and political contexts
o Media in Europe will not be the same as the ones consumes in for example China
- Social sciences aims to understand the relation between technology and society
o How do they influence each other
o How do they co-evolve?
THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
- Digital media are highly pervasive, (e.g., computers, smartphones, etc.)
o Taking it for granted (only realizing when it’s absent)
o Digital media are everywhere, we usually take them for granted and only notice them when
they are not there
- Mediatization: increasing presence of media in all aspects of life
o “The increasing temporal, spatial, and social spread of mediated communication”
Temporal: at every time of the day present
Spatial: whether we are at home, at work,… in every space digital media are
present
Social spread: they are embedded in every environment
- Digital tech is reshaping how we produce, distribute and consume information
- This challenges traditional concepts of democracy, work and power
-
o Most important breakthrough in almost everything we use right now: the internet
Still the basis for everything we do foundation
NEW AND OLD MEDIA
- Initially, NEW MEDIA referred to ICTs based on digital code, distinguishing them from "old media"
(TV, radio, newspapers) → late 20th century
o New media like computer, mobile phones…
- This concept soon became problematic
o How long after the introduction of something can you still call it new?
o Digital media are not “new” anymore
o Implies lineair evolution where new media ”phased out” old media
But not the case, old media is still popular (like television)
- Remediation: Often, new media do not replace old media; instead, they re-work or change them
into a different format (e.g., e-readers transformed physical books into e-books)
o They often can perfectly co-exist together, they don’t always replace old media
- Identity crisis and domestication:
o New media often face uncertainty and contested meanings upon introduction
When new media is introduced: identity crisis often creates some type of fear
1
, o Over time, they become normalized and integrated into everyday life (“domestication”)
- Zombie media: Media technologies that were “dead”, are brought back to life with new meanings
(e.g., vinyl records, polaroid camera)
DIGITAL MEDIA
- To understand the broader societal impact of digital media, we need to go beyond the technical
aspects of digital media
- IMPORTANT FEATURES: convergent, hypertextual, distributed, pervasive, algorithmic, asymmetric,
and both ephemeral and permanent
CONVERGENT
- In the past: all other devices that serve one purpose
o One alarm clock, one camera…
o But now they are merged into one device like a smartphone
- Digital media merge different content types (text, audio, visual) onto single platforms
o Different content types on one platform
- Devices like computers and smartphones serve multiple functions (TV, radio, calculator, alarm,
GPS, etc.)
o “Universal machines”
- Media production and consumption no longer require distinct hardware
HYPERTEXTUAL
- In the past: one path from the beginning to the end (like a book)
o Now when you open a page: there are these blue hyperlinks that link you to other pages
Your reading experience has changed
Non-linear reading
- Hypertext is texts that contains links (hyperlinks) to other content, enabling easy access and
navigation between them
- Hypertexts on the web allow for a customizable, non-linear reading experience (<-> traditional
books)
- Users can jump between various types of content (e.g., text, video) within a single platform
DISTRIBUTED
- Traditional mass media are centralized and unidirectional (e.g., broadcasting company)
o (in the past)
o Like television: one broadcasting company that was centralized
o With the internet: no central player anymore
- Digital media follow a distributed model, with thousands of interconnected nodes
o
o You can jump from one dot to another
o There is no central hub, everybody can contribute content
- With user‐generated content on social media, users now also create content
- Horizontal communication via media platforms
o vertical communication (traditional)
2
,PERVASIVE
- It’s all over the place
- Mobile technologies allow people to access and post information at any time and from any location
o Smartphones? digital media has infiltrated every aspect of our lives
- Thus, they allow real-time, location-based interactions and communication
- However, this also means that companies can track and surveil user behavior at an unprecedented
scale
ALGORITHMIC
- Everything we do online leave certain traces
o These traces are then collected datafication
o This is used to personalize our feeds and interfaces
- Most digital technologies are based on algorithms
- Data from our behaviors & interactions (“datafication”) are analyzed and then used to make
choices (e.g., on what to show us)
- However, they are not “neutral” nor “objective”
- Many algorithms are powered by machine learning, where people contribute to training these
algorithms (e.g., CHATGPT)
ASYMETRIC
- Digital media are dominated by a few large corporations
- Uneven distribution of power: users do not have access to the information these corporations
collect
o Corporations know a lot about their users, they have our data, decide what we see…
power over us
But users don’t have this power over the corporations
- Digital media are black boxes that hide the underlying operations
- Digital media can used for mass surveillance (social and political control)
EPHEMERAL OR PERMANENT?
- A lot of media are not that long-lived
- Different media have different durations and persistence (e.g., paper book)
- Usually, digital media storage are short-lived
o Services are upgraded, not always good for long time storage etc
- Digital software is often updated and evolving, making long-term data preservation challenging
- HOWEVER: Even “short-lived” messages can be stored for years (so careful with what you share)
=> e.g., IG story (24h hours?)
DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURES
- Digital media are built on global networks of interconnected nodes, not centralized hubs
o digital media & the internet are:
A redundant system: the ability to send information through multiple pathways
(e.g. in case of disruption, alternative route)
An open system: anyone with internet access can access it (unlike TV channels or
newspapers, which are “closed”)
Closed ex; when you lived in Belgium, you couldn’t really access American
content
- Digital media infrastructure consists four layers:
o Physical (hardware): the cables, satellites, servers, antennas, etc.
Less and less necessary, now there’s more use of servers and clouds
o Logical (software): the software for websites, social media, etc.
o Content: information that is produced and exchanged within digital media
o Legal: laws and policies about functioning of digital networks and the behavior of their
users
TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
3
, - Technological determinism
o This views technology as an independent and disruptive force that shapes society,
influencing interactions, structures, and cultural norms
- Social construction of technology
o This argues that societal values, needs, and choices influence the development and
meaning of technology, shaping its form and function
- Co-evolution of technology and society
o This suggests that technology and society mutually influence each other in a continuous
process, leading to the evolution of both
A DAY IN THE LIFE WITH DIGITAL MEDIA: AN ORDINARY DAY – DAY IN THE LIFE WITH DIGITAL
MEDIA
INTRODUCTION
- The chapter explores how media is integrated into the routine structure of an ordinary day, from
morning to night
- Focuses on how digital media, especially smartphones, transform daily navigation and routines
- Conducted interviews with 50 diverse Norwegian respondents
- Investigates the tension between digital connection and disconnection in everyday life
MEANINGFUL AND MUNDANE
- Media use is often taken for granted, with its true value realized only in its absence
- Berelson’s 1945 study highlighted how people missed the ritual comfort and social connection
provided by newspapers during a strike
o They decided not to distribute any newspaper at all
o What does this do to people? What are there emotions?
o They are missing out on information, but they also miss their daily ritual, routine… the
social component to be informed about things happening elsewhere
- Similar patterns observed in modern studies (70 years later)
o Just with more modern types of media
o People have the tendency to perform ritualistic media checks
- People perform ritualistic media checks to confirm the world’s order before moving on with their
day (“approximately informed and occasionally monitorial”)
o Informed?: informed but not also very much, because we quickly check things, not really in
dept
o Occasionally: just sometimes, we don’t use our phones etc the whole time
- Smartphones have become the central platform for all these daily rituals
o More so than the content we consume
- The significance of media lies in its integration into daily life, not just in the content consumed
MORNING: WAKING UP WITH THE SMARTPHONE
- First thing in the morning:
o The smartphone is often the first device people interact with, serving as an alarm clock and
the first source of information
o It is a key tool for checking messages, emails, and notifications, setting the tone for the
day
- Morning media use is about "checking in" with the world
- Stories illustrate how media is situated in temporal, spatial and social structures of everyday life
- I) Intermittence; II) orientation; III) companionship
o I): you never really check you phone for like 5hours straight, its episodic
Like 10 mins in the morning, before your bike ride…
o II): especially in the morning, for ex like checking the weather, how should you plan ahead?
o III): answering messages from people, socially related
- Like the Berelson’s study, the smartphone is integral to morning routines; but offers more
personalized and continuously updated information (attention-grabbing)
4
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL MEDIA & TECHNOLOGIES
DIGITAL MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
- Digital media are integral to everyday life (work, socializing, entertainment)
- Understanding requires analysis of social, cultural and political contexts
o Media in Europe will not be the same as the ones consumes in for example China
- Social sciences aims to understand the relation between technology and society
o How do they influence each other
o How do they co-evolve?
THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
- Digital media are highly pervasive, (e.g., computers, smartphones, etc.)
o Taking it for granted (only realizing when it’s absent)
o Digital media are everywhere, we usually take them for granted and only notice them when
they are not there
- Mediatization: increasing presence of media in all aspects of life
o “The increasing temporal, spatial, and social spread of mediated communication”
Temporal: at every time of the day present
Spatial: whether we are at home, at work,… in every space digital media are
present
Social spread: they are embedded in every environment
- Digital tech is reshaping how we produce, distribute and consume information
- This challenges traditional concepts of democracy, work and power
-
o Most important breakthrough in almost everything we use right now: the internet
Still the basis for everything we do foundation
NEW AND OLD MEDIA
- Initially, NEW MEDIA referred to ICTs based on digital code, distinguishing them from "old media"
(TV, radio, newspapers) → late 20th century
o New media like computer, mobile phones…
- This concept soon became problematic
o How long after the introduction of something can you still call it new?
o Digital media are not “new” anymore
o Implies lineair evolution where new media ”phased out” old media
But not the case, old media is still popular (like television)
- Remediation: Often, new media do not replace old media; instead, they re-work or change them
into a different format (e.g., e-readers transformed physical books into e-books)
o They often can perfectly co-exist together, they don’t always replace old media
- Identity crisis and domestication:
o New media often face uncertainty and contested meanings upon introduction
When new media is introduced: identity crisis often creates some type of fear
1
, o Over time, they become normalized and integrated into everyday life (“domestication”)
- Zombie media: Media technologies that were “dead”, are brought back to life with new meanings
(e.g., vinyl records, polaroid camera)
DIGITAL MEDIA
- To understand the broader societal impact of digital media, we need to go beyond the technical
aspects of digital media
- IMPORTANT FEATURES: convergent, hypertextual, distributed, pervasive, algorithmic, asymmetric,
and both ephemeral and permanent
CONVERGENT
- In the past: all other devices that serve one purpose
o One alarm clock, one camera…
o But now they are merged into one device like a smartphone
- Digital media merge different content types (text, audio, visual) onto single platforms
o Different content types on one platform
- Devices like computers and smartphones serve multiple functions (TV, radio, calculator, alarm,
GPS, etc.)
o “Universal machines”
- Media production and consumption no longer require distinct hardware
HYPERTEXTUAL
- In the past: one path from the beginning to the end (like a book)
o Now when you open a page: there are these blue hyperlinks that link you to other pages
Your reading experience has changed
Non-linear reading
- Hypertext is texts that contains links (hyperlinks) to other content, enabling easy access and
navigation between them
- Hypertexts on the web allow for a customizable, non-linear reading experience (<-> traditional
books)
- Users can jump between various types of content (e.g., text, video) within a single platform
DISTRIBUTED
- Traditional mass media are centralized and unidirectional (e.g., broadcasting company)
o (in the past)
o Like television: one broadcasting company that was centralized
o With the internet: no central player anymore
- Digital media follow a distributed model, with thousands of interconnected nodes
o
o You can jump from one dot to another
o There is no central hub, everybody can contribute content
- With user‐generated content on social media, users now also create content
- Horizontal communication via media platforms
o vertical communication (traditional)
2
,PERVASIVE
- It’s all over the place
- Mobile technologies allow people to access and post information at any time and from any location
o Smartphones? digital media has infiltrated every aspect of our lives
- Thus, they allow real-time, location-based interactions and communication
- However, this also means that companies can track and surveil user behavior at an unprecedented
scale
ALGORITHMIC
- Everything we do online leave certain traces
o These traces are then collected datafication
o This is used to personalize our feeds and interfaces
- Most digital technologies are based on algorithms
- Data from our behaviors & interactions (“datafication”) are analyzed and then used to make
choices (e.g., on what to show us)
- However, they are not “neutral” nor “objective”
- Many algorithms are powered by machine learning, where people contribute to training these
algorithms (e.g., CHATGPT)
ASYMETRIC
- Digital media are dominated by a few large corporations
- Uneven distribution of power: users do not have access to the information these corporations
collect
o Corporations know a lot about their users, they have our data, decide what we see…
power over us
But users don’t have this power over the corporations
- Digital media are black boxes that hide the underlying operations
- Digital media can used for mass surveillance (social and political control)
EPHEMERAL OR PERMANENT?
- A lot of media are not that long-lived
- Different media have different durations and persistence (e.g., paper book)
- Usually, digital media storage are short-lived
o Services are upgraded, not always good for long time storage etc
- Digital software is often updated and evolving, making long-term data preservation challenging
- HOWEVER: Even “short-lived” messages can be stored for years (so careful with what you share)
=> e.g., IG story (24h hours?)
DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURES
- Digital media are built on global networks of interconnected nodes, not centralized hubs
o digital media & the internet are:
A redundant system: the ability to send information through multiple pathways
(e.g. in case of disruption, alternative route)
An open system: anyone with internet access can access it (unlike TV channels or
newspapers, which are “closed”)
Closed ex; when you lived in Belgium, you couldn’t really access American
content
- Digital media infrastructure consists four layers:
o Physical (hardware): the cables, satellites, servers, antennas, etc.
Less and less necessary, now there’s more use of servers and clouds
o Logical (software): the software for websites, social media, etc.
o Content: information that is produced and exchanged within digital media
o Legal: laws and policies about functioning of digital networks and the behavior of their
users
TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
3
, - Technological determinism
o This views technology as an independent and disruptive force that shapes society,
influencing interactions, structures, and cultural norms
- Social construction of technology
o This argues that societal values, needs, and choices influence the development and
meaning of technology, shaping its form and function
- Co-evolution of technology and society
o This suggests that technology and society mutually influence each other in a continuous
process, leading to the evolution of both
A DAY IN THE LIFE WITH DIGITAL MEDIA: AN ORDINARY DAY – DAY IN THE LIFE WITH DIGITAL
MEDIA
INTRODUCTION
- The chapter explores how media is integrated into the routine structure of an ordinary day, from
morning to night
- Focuses on how digital media, especially smartphones, transform daily navigation and routines
- Conducted interviews with 50 diverse Norwegian respondents
- Investigates the tension between digital connection and disconnection in everyday life
MEANINGFUL AND MUNDANE
- Media use is often taken for granted, with its true value realized only in its absence
- Berelson’s 1945 study highlighted how people missed the ritual comfort and social connection
provided by newspapers during a strike
o They decided not to distribute any newspaper at all
o What does this do to people? What are there emotions?
o They are missing out on information, but they also miss their daily ritual, routine… the
social component to be informed about things happening elsewhere
- Similar patterns observed in modern studies (70 years later)
o Just with more modern types of media
o People have the tendency to perform ritualistic media checks
- People perform ritualistic media checks to confirm the world’s order before moving on with their
day (“approximately informed and occasionally monitorial”)
o Informed?: informed but not also very much, because we quickly check things, not really in
dept
o Occasionally: just sometimes, we don’t use our phones etc the whole time
- Smartphones have become the central platform for all these daily rituals
o More so than the content we consume
- The significance of media lies in its integration into daily life, not just in the content consumed
MORNING: WAKING UP WITH THE SMARTPHONE
- First thing in the morning:
o The smartphone is often the first device people interact with, serving as an alarm clock and
the first source of information
o It is a key tool for checking messages, emails, and notifications, setting the tone for the
day
- Morning media use is about "checking in" with the world
- Stories illustrate how media is situated in temporal, spatial and social structures of everyday life
- I) Intermittence; II) orientation; III) companionship
o I): you never really check you phone for like 5hours straight, its episodic
Like 10 mins in the morning, before your bike ride…
o II): especially in the morning, for ex like checking the weather, how should you plan ahead?
o III): answering messages from people, socially related
- Like the Berelson’s study, the smartphone is integral to morning routines; but offers more
personalized and continuously updated information (attention-grabbing)
4
