Kimberley Miller-Owen: a1995514
Question 1
Introduction to Media: Digital Revolutions Essay
Question 1:
“With reference to one or two contemporary digital media communication forms (e.g.
social networking profiles such as Facebook or MySpace, SMS text-messaging,
YouTube, wikis, digital games) analyse the factors which make this media form part
of a “digital revolution”.”
The 21st century has brought with it a vast expansion of digital and technological
advancements in the world around us. It is notably more media orientated and
digitally fuelled, as more people ferociously rely on new and advanced technologies
in their daily life. This development of contemporary digital media communication
forms has created the idea of a ‘digital revolution’ that is occurring throughout the
worldwide society; a broad expression characterised by a variety of ideas, indicating
the progression and advancement of media concepts and digital technologies.
YouTube and Facebook are two media forms which strongly embody the idea of a
digital revolution, and incorporate many of the factors which represent a digital
revolution, such as digitisation (the creation of fast conditions designed for inputting
high quantities of data and ease of exchange of that data), web 2.0, interactivity, cocreation, user generated content, remixing, hypertext, collaborative editing (wikis)
and new approaches to analysing media. YouTube, described as “the premier
destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a web experience,”1
and Facebook, a social networking site (SNS) enabling people to communicate more
efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers2 incorporate three main factors
which characterise a digital revolution, those being web 2.0, interactivity, and
remixing.
1
2
http://www.youtube.com/t/about
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/press/info.php?factsheet
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Web 2.0 is a modern concept which refers to a shift from the internet as a place to
‘dump’ and ‘retrieve’ online content3 (web 1.0) to interactive, collective, participatory
media in which ‘the network’ and ‘collaboration’ become the platforms and users cocreate the texts they access (web 2.0). This can be highlighted by the sender 
message  receiver model (web 1.0) developing into a sender  message  receiver
model as the web 2.0 phenomenon has become prominent. As this model indicates,
web 2.0 is a progression from the traditional media form of active senders and passive
recipients in which the author has control over the message and it’s distribution, to a
much more interactive media format where the receiver has more control over the
message (in terms of co-creation, customisation4) and can give active feedback in
terms of this message or sender. Facebook is defined by user posts, such as photos,
comments, wall posts and profile updates; all of which exemplify this sender 
message  receiver model entirely. Similarly, YouTube allows people to post content
freely and have others connect and interact about this material. This simple
description reiterates the concept of web 2.0 and illustrates how websites such as
Facebook and YouTube have helped to define and influence this significant digital
revolution. Web 2.0 may have a variety of social and media behavioural implications
however; will people still interact in a personal way if Facebook and other
communicative medias such as email continue to expand and attract in such an
exponential way?
The concept of interactivity is also a distinct and dominant factor making Facebook
and YouTube a part of this digital revolution. While there are many indeterminate
definitions of interactivity, it can be described as “a measure of a media’s potential
3
4
official publications like news and personal homepages
These terms will be explained and addressed further later in the essay.
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Kimberley Miller-Owen: a1995514
Question 1
ability to let the user extend an influence on the content and/or form of the mediated
communication5”. The way in which interactivity is contributing to this digital
revolution is in its ability to separate ‘old’ media from ‘new’ media. ‘Old’ media
refers to the analogue type media, which works by storing information or a media text
in a suitable physical form, for example print, photography, film and newspapers6. In
this form of media there were little possibilities to interact with the authors or senders
of the content and very limited ways in which to interact with each other. New or
modern media, that being digital media, has allowed interactivity to expand and
become much more accessible, with the main example being that of the Internet, but
also DVD, digital TV and mobile phones. Users can become fully immersed in their
experiences by viewing material, commenting it and then actively contributing to it.
This is how the media world has digitally revolutionised, and Facebook and YouTube
are again prime examples of this new media form.
Facebook has utilised technologies which facilitate the sharing of information through
the social graph; the digital mapping of people's real-world social connections7. It
responds to a user’s choices, and allows them to produce and input their own
information and content8. This is part of the appeal of social networking sites (SNS)
such as Facebook; as people can interact with one another and influence the medium
they are involved in, i.e. interact with the interface itself. The SNS of YouTube is also
primarily based around interaction; people upload videos onto the site, changing and
5
J.F. Jensen (1998).
6
Used as the major media forms of the 19th and 20th centuries - Wikipedia (2009), online accessed April
2009, URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_(communication),
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_media
7
Facebook (2009), online accessed everyday, 2009, URL:
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?factsheet
8
In reference to the ‘4 kinds of interactivity’ – registrational and conversational interactivity are the
main two forms in relation to Facebook and YouTube.
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influencing what other people can see (interacting with the media form), and then
others from all over the world can access a variety of these uploaded media contents
according to their preferences, and post feedback about it (interacting with the sender;
the web 2.0 model). This is the epitome of interactivity; the senders and receivers are
essentially the same people, responding to and posting their own materials in one
specific online environment. Another way in which interactivity is contributing to a
digital revolution is through its value in relation to consumerism and branding; many
advertisements are now presented through mediums such as Facebook and YouTube,
along with user created applications promoting various ideas. Facebook especially
provides users with a revolutionary format of networking, through the ability to
search and connect with others for business, social or personal interactions.
Remixing is also a significant factor in terms of revolutionary digital media forms.
Traditionally, remixing was reduced to the manipulation of songs, in terms of adding
or removing elements and altering things such as the equalisation, dynamics, pitch or
tempo9. Presently, remixing has now taken on a new dimension and meaning in terms
of visual and audio-visual multimedia, and as the digital world has so exponentially
developed it now offers such an advanced range of tools which makes this new kind
of remixing possible. Referred to often as ‘mashups’10, the fact that the wider
population can create this remixed material indicates the progression of accessibility,
interactivity and user generated content and therefore highlights the contribution of
remixing in relation to a digital revolution. YouTube is the most dominant example of
remixing digital audio-visual texts. At a basic level, YouTube is filled with user
9
Cover, Rob, Interactivity, Australian Journal of Communication, Vol 31 (1), 2004
10
Navas, Eduardo (2008), The Bond of Repetition and Representation, viewed online April 2008,
URL: http://remixtheory.net/?p=361#more-361
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generated content and represents what interactivity is all about; though if we delve
further, it is clear that YouTube has become a medium for the remixing culture to
obtain their material and display it for all those connected to see. For example, the
British Big Brother (2007) re-mixed samples of contestant’s ‘diary room speeches’,
laugh tracks and introductory music, which was effectively used to ‘show him off’ as
a sit-down comedian with broad array of one-liners11. In relation to a digital
revolution, remixing has become a space of digital creativity, collecting and
manipulation which allows things such as fan production and new narratives to be
created. All audiences will produce and create a meaning of something they see or
watch, but ‘fan’ audiences go further and often will actively produce texts also, such
as writings, songs and video clips. YouTube is a supportive facilitator of this, as it is
also for new narratives; a different, new story which may re-interpret, completely reconfigure or ignore the original narratives. As a result of the remixing and interactive
user generated context of YouTube, it has also become a popular medium for political
activism and commentary; another appealing factor alongside the creativity
opportunities presented.
Though there are endless factors which constitute and signify a digital revolution, web
2.0, interactivity and remixing are three primary indicators of significant digital
change and media advancements within our society. Facebook and YouTube are two
mediums which exemplify these factors unerringly, as both facilitate interaction
between senders and receivers, users and the message, or interface, and connection
between users. Facebook is a prime example of the web 2.0 development and
interactivity, through its connecting and communication features, and YouTube is
11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kts_9lE3ARc
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facilitating a media that surrounds interactivity, user generated content and remix
culture. The two media forms are prime examples of the composition of a digital
revolution; an advancing world of digital media and communication mechanisms.
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Bibliography
- Cover, Rob, Interactivity, Australian Journal of Communication, Vol 31 (1), 2004
- Berners-Lee, Tim, Speech, LCS 35th Anniversary celebrations, Cambridge
Massachusetts, 1999/April/14.
- Williams, Raymond (1990), ‘The Technology and the Society,’ in Tony Bennett
(ed.) Popular Fiction: Technology, Ideology, Production, Reading, London:
Routledge, pp. 9-22.
- Boyd, Danah (2008), ‘Convergence’, Facebook’s Privacy Trainwreck: Exposure,
Invasion, and Social Convergence, online accessed April 2008, URL:
http://con.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/1/13]
- Navas, Eduardo (2008), The Bond of Repetition and Representation, online accessed
April 2008, URL: http://remixtheory.net/?p=361#more-361
(A great website for remixing culture authentic information, with many different
articles on relevant things from people experienced in this field).
- Facebook (2009), online accessed everyday 2009, URL:
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?factsheet
- YouTube (2009), online accessed March/April 2009, URL:
http://www.youtube.com/t/about
- Wikipedia (2009), online accessed April 2009, URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_ (communication),
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_media
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