1st Post - The Language of New Media

In Manovich’s article, “The Language of New Media”, he outlines the principles of New Media that make it a distinct in contrast to ‘old media '. New media is traditionally associated with the use of a computer, for distrubtion and exhibition. The principles of new media include: numerical representation, modularity, automation.

For the purpose of my blog post, I will focus on the attribute of modularity in examining youtube.com as my web page. Youtube is the perfect example of modularity. Modularity can be understood as the fractal structure of new media. “Just as a fractal has the same structure on different scales, a new media object ahs the same modular structure throughout”. In other words, the modularity property refers to elements, which are by themselves their own whole, that are then assembled and integrated into a larger-scale object to create a different object altogether. Youtube is the perfect example of this. People take their own videos then upload it into a larger collection (youtube.com).

This concept of modularity complicates Turkle’s argument, that technology impact on the human identity is that we are being conditioned to focus on presentation as opposed to conversation. Turkle uses the example of Powerpoint to help explain his argument. In other words, he is referring to the issue that our society is increasingly being exposed to snippets and summaries of what is happening as opposed to being exposed to lively debates and conversations that offer a holistic understanding of the topic. In my opinion, this is the exact opposite of what is going on in new media. While it may be true that presentation is at the heart of new media, exemplified by the amount of images and videos we are bombarded with on a daily basis, conversation has also increased along side of presentation. By looking at the website youtube, we can see that presentation is central to the success of the website. However if youtube was successful on that alone, it doesn’t explain why other video website don’t enjoy the same level of success. It is the community of YouTube that is both vibrant, active, and always looking to discuss matters that help to make YouTube what it is today. One needs to look no further then the comment boxes below videos – despite most of them involving ignorance and vulgar language -  or the number of videos out there that are focused on facilitating lively debate between users. Another example of how new media has facilitated conversation is the increase in grass-root news organizations. It is the blogosphere along with the freedom they enjoy of writing whatever is on their mind, without being afraid of offending their clients, that facilitates conversation in our new media landscape.

One final issue I had with Turkle’s analysis of new media and self identity is the overall negative/cautionary tone he takes in describing this phenomenon. These issues of privacy, virtual realities, thinking with Word, and interface value should not be viewed as a threatening phenomenon that is occurring. Instead, we should embrace the fact that we, humanity, have gotten to the point where we can construct virtual realities and question our very understanding of what reality is. We should celebrate the fact that modern day writers are no longer at the mercy of the constrictive type writer. Instead, given that we can now put down any and every idea that comes to mind, we are only at the mercy of our own natural creativity.