Emerging media, often referred to as new media, is (not surprisingly) the topic of conversation in the most recent class I am taking entitled Emerging Media & The Market at West Virginia University. What is emerging media you ask? While the exact definition is still up for debate, emerging media is the Internet media we use nearly everyday. Between our professor’s lesson and fellow classmate’s commentary in the first week of the course, here are some key characteristics of traditional (“old”) media and emerging (“new”) media:
Traditional (“Old”) Media:
- Consists of TV, print, and radio advertisements
- Applies the one-to-many (or top down) principal where communication is created in one place and dispersed to the public
Emerging (“New”) Media:
- Consists of social media, mobile advertising, online search, retargeting, blogs, and the Internet of Things (IoT) among many other forms of internet-related media in the digital landscape
- Allows marketers to have an interactive conversation with consumers (and vice versa)
- Permits business to accurately track consumer behavior through precise analytics
Why You Should Care About Emerging Media
Emerging media is all around you. You use emerging media everyday when you reconnect with friends on Facebook, whip out your smartphone to read the morning traffic update on Twitter, shop for shoes on your tablet, and search for a local restaurant in your area. While you have your own routines and favorite media to visit, it’s important to know how others use these media as well and how you are being marketed to via these channels. Whether you like it or not, businesses, governments, and other people can gain detailed access into your life based on your social media profiles, online behavior, purchase histories, search histories, etc. With cyber crime being at an all-time high (and only expected to rise), it’s important to know how the information you’re sharing is being used and how to control the information you share.
How Everyone (Including You) Interacts with Emerging Media
As alluded to above, different audiences and groups use many different emerging media to connect with those that share similar likes and dislikes via the Internet. We are social beings by nature and the Internet allows us to be social in the digital landscape (after all, we created it!). With so much being created, curated, and shared online, our attention spans have shortened and our scanning skills have changed (“We live in the age of skimming” – Farhad Manjoo). According to Pew Research, “On blogs, 53% of the lead stories in a given week stay on the list no more than three days. On Twitter that is true of 72% of lead stories, and more than half (52%) are on the list for just 24 hours.” The same study also found that “social media tend to home in on stories that get much less attention in the mainstream press. And there is little evidence, at least at this point, of the traditional press then picking up on those stories in response.” Those pretty facts barely touch the tip of the iceberg of data that researchers have been finding about multiple aspects of online behavior on a fraction of the media platforms we use daily.
So, Which Media is “Emerging” Media?
That question is up for debate (and is something we debated heavily in class this week). Many people think Facebook is emerging media while others think it’s not. The truth is, emerging media is in a state of constant change and its up to us to keep up with it all.
Do you have any media you would like to share that could be the next big thing (I heard Google Glass is pretty cool)? If so, feel free to leave a comment below!
P.S: If you recently found an article that further explains, challenges, affirms, or negates points I’ve shared in this post, feel free to share it with me! Your comments are welcome, even if they consist of “You suck”.
The Digital Marketer in Training 
You make an excellent point about why we should care about emerging media. Data collection and sharing is now commonplace, but our information is more at risk for phishing and fraud than ever before. Plus, social media has made data collection much easier, as websites are eager to sell consumer info and likes/keywords/shares for advertising purposes.
LikeLike
I completely agree with you. Because we are so vulnerable online, I think it’s more important than ever for people to use safe practices online (ie: don’t share your whereabouts, keep your location private, etc.). However, this is easier said than done due to the fact there is only so much consumers can control themselves. My phone knows more about my geographic location than I do!
LikeLike