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Martin Lister: Characteristics of New Media

Page history last edited by saschadenneler@... 15 years, 11 months ago

 

Session 2: Martin Lister

 

 

Hey, this is Alina and I picked Digitality and Dispersal:

 

1.) Digitality: In a digital process a certain input of data is converted into numbers and is thus compressed, dematerialised, it can be modiefied and accessed at a very high speed.

 

In my terms: Digital media is any kind of media that is converted into a numerical number. By translating the data into numbers, it disappears from the materialistic world as we know it. We cannot decode digital data into a message that we understand. We have to use a “translater” like a computer. The data is stored as a certain numerical code and it does not exist as a physical object. Therefore it is in a permanent state of flux.

 

2.) Dispersal: The prodcution and distribution of new media has become decentralised, highly individuated and woven ever more closely into the fabric of everyday life.

 

In my terms: The production and distribution of new media has never been easy and such a big part of daily life. The borders between consumption and production of media have become fuzzy and people who have only been consumers can now also be producers.

The distribution of media has also become very easy due to the Internet etc. A single message for a selected audience does not exsist any longer. There is rather large amount of messages that is targetetd at a large an not selected audience

 

 

 

Hi, this is Sascha (with a "c" - hope this is not too confusing)

 

I picked Digitality and Interactivity

 

1. Digitality according to Lister: "In a digital media process all input data are converted into numbers" and "this is in marked contrast to analogue media where all input data is converted into another physical form."

 

My understanding: Any physical data (be that texts, movies, music, etc) can be digitized, losing its physical form in the process. Once digitized the data can be modified, accessed and distributed in little time with little effort.

 

 

2. Interactivity according to Lister: "Digital media offer us a significant increase in our opportunity to manipulate and intervene in media. These opportunities are often referred to as the interactive potential of new media:"

 

My understanding: The basic idea is that the passive "viewer" becomes the active "user." Whereas a viewer merely receives the data given to him, the user has to choose from a wide range of data to find the information s/he wants, thus collecting information and ultimately creating a new, personalized text. Also, the user can add to a text simply by ,e.g. commenting on it.

 

 

Comments (20)

Bjoern said

at 3:34 pm on Apr 23, 2008

This is Bjoern and I picked:

(1) Digitality and (2) Interactivity.

To put it down with Listers words:

Digitality: all media process and all input data are converted into numbers. Analogue means: all data is converted into another physical object.
Interactivity: the potential of multiple opportunities.

My opinion:

Digitality: everything (every digitised medium, i.e. a photograph or a movie etc.), can be edited, viz. there is a change from fixity to flux. Furthermore its much easier to work with digitised stuff, because the access is very fast and its more or less flexible. Therefore one could say that its the principle of conversion from physical stuff to digital stuff.

Interactivity: its the possibility to act active in another medium, like intervening in order to become part of the medium itself and by doing so produce meaning (individuality). Though you cannot physically interact by yourself, still computer games with artifical 3D surroundings are also a good example for interactivity (visualised interaction).

Sylvia said

at 8:20 pm on Apr 23, 2008

This is Sylvia and I picked:
1) Interactivity
2) Dispersal
According to Martin Lister:
Interactivity:
"[...] digital media offer us a significant increase in our opportunity to manipulate and intervene in media. These multiple opportunities are often referred to as the interactive potential of new media."
Dispersal:
"[...] the production and distribution of new media have become decentralised, highly individuated and woven ever more closely into the fabric of everyday life."

My understanding:

Interactivity: New media formats allowe the formerly more or less passive "viewer" to become an active "user", editing and changing media content. The reader of a book cannot directly comment the content, but with a forum or blog the discourse between author and "reader" is more direct, and with computer games the interactive potential is even greater --- especially with online games like "World of Warcraft".

Dispersal: New media changed the dispersal of messages, it's no longer a single message for a mass audience but rather individual messages to a variety of groups. Distribution has become decentralised; nowadays, due to the accessability of the internet, individual people can get there message to large audience --> messages can reach more people and are more individual.

Mediha said

at 10:53 pm on Apr 23, 2008

Key terms in discourse about new media are, inter alia: digitality and virtuality.
According to Lister, digitality is a process, in which "all input data are converted into numbers...and this data usually takes the form of qualities such as light or sound or represented space which have already been coded into a 'cultural form'... This is in marked contrast to analogue where all input data is converted into another physical object".
In other words, digital media is converted into abstract symbols such as numbers and thus data like text, sound, graphics and images can be encoded. Whereas analogue media contains a process, in which a set of physical objects are converted into further physical properties.
Another key term is virtuality: “… the ‘virtual’ is frequently cited as a feature of postmodern cultures in which … so many aspects of everyday experiences are technologically simulated” (Lister). In other words, reality is simulated with computer graphics, video and several different forms of media and image technologies and so the constructed reality provides an interaction for the user with other ones.

Miriam said

at 12:14 am on Apr 24, 2008

Digitality and Interactivity are key terms Lister introduces in his essay.

Digitality: "In a digital media process all input data (physical properties of the input) are converted into numbers (abstract symbols).

Interactivity: "Interactivity is understood as one of the key "value added" characteristics of new media. It is seen as a method for maximizing consumer choice in relation to media texts."

When I am asked to explain the terms in my own words I would say that digitality means that you do not have long ways of production as you can encode the message (book, film, newspaper article) in order to save and later edit it without big effort. Everyone using a computer digitises his/her documents by saving them. Today it is pretty easy to edit and change those documents if we compare it to those days when printing has just been invented.

Interactivity means for me that the user of media can change to what extent and how he/she wants to use the media. This is an active process in which you might also add things in a chat room for example. By using an Internet chat room one can directly get into contact with others who are far away and react directly on their writings and have a "conversation" emerge. Other possibilities are online games, e-mails, etc.

Natia said

at 1:01 am on Apr 24, 2008

I picked two characteristics of the new media: a) hypertextuality and b) virtuality.

Martin Lister defines “hypertext as a work which is made up from discrete units of material in which each one carries a number of pathways to other units.” (Lister; 24) In other words, hypertext leads the user from one text to other. It makes possible the connection of different information trough the hyperlinks. Furthermore, hypertext can be designed in order to perform various tasks; for example, by clicking on the button, the user can access video clip or a web page on a related topic.

Another characteristic of the new media is virtuality, which “is frequently cited as a feature of postmodern cultures in which, it is argued, so many aspects of everyday experiences are technologically simulated” (Lister; 34). Our reality is simulated with different media, digital technologies, videos and computer games. The relation between virtual and physical space is an embedded feature of the way in which we relate to the world around us.

TobiasB said

at 8:08 am on Apr 24, 2008

This is Tobias and I picked:

1) Interactivity
2) Dispersal

In Martin Lister’s words:

1) “[…] digital media offer us a significant increase in our opportunity to manipulate and intervene in media.“
Ideological pov: Interactivity in contrast to passive consumption
Instrumental pov: “[…] being interactive signifies the users‘ ability to directly intervene in and change the images and texts they access.“

2) “[…] the production and distribution of new media have become decentralized, highly individuated and woven ever more closely into the fabric of everyday life.“
Formerly centralised content in highly capitalized industrial loactions vs. a dispersed system of everything from industry to private persons

In my words:

1) Digital media are a relatively new form of media. They allow us to change from the role of a purely passive consumer of information to a role of an active partaker who is able to choose, edit and comment. This ranges from very basic things like message boards up to video platforms like youtube up to the – if you want to call it that way – pinnacle of interactivity, which I would say are VR and computer games, especially in the MMO-genre (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game).

2) Unlike older media like newspapers and movies, controlled by a corporation, the system has become a lot more dispersed. Everyone can contribute, even a private person. Also, the system has become very immersed into our everyday life – I can choose what I want to have (e.g. the news), from whom I would like to know them (e.g. digital videostream, friends on the internet, websites, mailing lists…), when I want (accessibility on websites is mostly not limited), for how long I want and to the detail I need.

Sasha said

at 11:13 am on Apr 24, 2008

This is Sasha:

Interactivity according to Lister:
User engagement with media texts, and a more independent relation to sources of knowledge, individualized media, and greater user choice, all enabled by the users' ability to intervene and change what is accessed.

Hypertext according to Lister:
A text which provides a network of links to other texts that are outside, above and beyond itself.

Interactivity describes a shift from traditional passive ways of receiving information to more engaged and self-manipulated methods used today.

Hypertext describes the complex web of relationships between various texts, their interaction, and the ultimate influence they have on one another.

marc said

at 11:20 am on Apr 24, 2008

This is Marc and I picked:

a) Interactivity:
"[...] stands for a more powerful sense of user engagement with media texts, a more independent relation to sources of knowledge, individualised media use, and greater user choice."

b) Virtuality:
“the ‘virtual’ is frequently cited as a feature of postmodern cultures in which […] so many aspects of everyday experiences are technologically simulated”


My understanding:

a) Interactivity is the interaction between a user and a medium. The user becomes an active part of this medium and can choose from a variety of options in order to satisfy specific or individual needs.

b) Virtuality: a computer-based technology which is able to simulate a certain reality and allows a user to interact with this environment.

Stefan R. said

at 2:56 pm on Apr 24, 2008

This is Stefan and I picked:

(1) Hypertext

According to Lister 'Hypertext' is "[...] a work which is made up from discrete units of material in which each one carries a number of pathways to other units" (24).

In my opinion 'Hypertext' is a function which allows consumers to choose between different units (e.g. texts, media, ...) and therefore gain a wider range of information (supplied by the producer).

(2) Interactivity

According to Lister 'Interactivity' is "[...] a more powerful sense of user engagement with media texts, a more independent relation to sources of knowledge, individualised media use, and greater user choice" (20).

In my opinion 'Interactivity' represents a possibility to communicate on a level which does not include a face-to-face situation. It does not matter if you communicate with a person, an institution or the medium itself -- you are able to get connected with your vis-à-vis. In addition, you can easily get access to media without going to its place of production (library, cinema, concert hall, store, ...).

Julia said

at 3:25 pm on Apr 24, 2008

This is Julia and I picked

1. Hypertextuality
According to Lister: "[...] a work which is made up from discrete units of mterial in which each one carries a number of pathways to other units. The work is a web of connection [...]"
"[...]a global neural net[...]"

In my own words: The consumer finds himself in a labyrinth of information. Different information is linked; the consumer is carried from one nod in the web to another.


2. Interactivity
Lister: "[...]a more powerful sense of user engagement with media texts, a more independent relation to sources of knowledge, individualised media use, and greater user choice [...]"

My own words: The consumer's role has changed from a passive, consuming role to an active, editing one. New media gives the possibility to take part without big effort.



Stefan R. said

at 3:34 pm on Apr 24, 2008

This is MARGARET (she didn't get access, so I will post this for her) and I picked:

INTERACTIVITY:

LISTNER: "the user's ability to directly intervene In and change the images and texts that they Access. The audience here becomes a 'user' rather than a 'viewer' of visual culture […]"

ME: through interactivity I would understand not only 'intervening', but also a certain kind of collaboration among the user's who also, actively involved in the process of creating, become authors themselves.


VIRTUALITY:

LISTNER: "a feature of postmodern cultures, in which, so many aspects of everyday experiences are technologically simulated […]; it's the convergence of digital image technologies both with older kinds of analogue media and with computer-mediated telecommunications networks[…]"

ME: an abstract, technologically interconnected space, where anyone who has access to this space may interact and contribute

Charline said

at 3:54 pm on Apr 24, 2008

I picked two characteristics in Lister's essay: Interactivity and Dispersal

Lister define the interactivity as "user's (the individual memebers of the new media "audience") ability to directly intervene in and change the images and texts that they access, (p.16). In other words, interactivity gives the possibility to users to react about what they read, or watched. User can also produce a message and take part actively into the new media.

Dispersal, according to Lister, is "the way in which both the production and distribution of new media have become decentralised, highly individuated and woven ever more closely into the fabric of everyday life" (p.21). This is not easy to rephrase but dispersal in new media uses internet wide network to reach a large amount of people in the daily life. Dispersal express the capacity of new media to reach many people through broadcast networks and computer networks, but in the same time the user choose which information he reads or whatched. The communication of new media is partialy oreinted to the user but a large part of the distribution is made randomly trough the world wide web.

stephan said

at 4:38 pm on Apr 24, 2008

1) Digitality
- "media texts are dematerialised in the sense that they are separated from their physical form as photographic print, book, roll of film, etc.;" (Lister 16)
- Digital media is any media that is not bound to a physical form. The picture, text or movie clip is digitalized and converted into binary numbers. In this form it can be easily acessed, forwarded but also is also easy to be manipulated.
2) Interactivity
- "interactivity is understood as one of the key 'value added' characteristics of new media. Where 'old' media offer passive consumption new media offer interactivity." (Lister 20)
- An example to illustrate this interactivity is a web2.0 news-site. The user has the possibility to create his own profile and can create a unique news-site showing only news from the resorts he is interested in. Another aspect of interactivity is the opportunity to express oppinions through comments or messageboards.

Martin said

at 4:52 pm on Apr 24, 2008

By Martin

I chose digitality and dispersal.

Digital media data is informational data “conveyed into numbers”. The physical property of the input data are converted to a numeric (or binary) code. This changes the possibilities of storing, reproduction and manipulation. Digital information can be copied, stored or sent out a million times at very low costs. This opened up a much wider field of accessibility and distribution. It also made information more or less independent of available space or carrying capabilities. The negative side to this may be the fact that any digital form of media, once released or broadcast, can be easily copied and distributed by anyone.

Hence, production and dispersal also became “decentralized”. Digital data has (nearly) no physical appearance one may have to take into account. It makes no difference if something is being sent to a computer next door or to the other side of the globe. This opens the possibility of a global job market, independent of borders or great distances.

Gregor said

at 4:53 pm on Apr 24, 2008

Gregor:

Hypertexts (Lister):
"We may define hypertext as a work which is made up from discrete units of material in which each one carries a number of pathways to other units. The work is a web of connection which the user explores using the navigational aids of the interface design. Each discrete 'node' in the web has a number of entrances and exits or links."
"[…] hypertext as both information storage and creative methodology […]"
"[…] every part of the text can be equidistant from the reader."

Hypertext (my definition):
A hypertext is the non-linear organisation of different texts in a network. This network consists of numerous branches (nodes) which are interconnected. Because of the non-linear organisation it is up to the user (or consumer) how and in which sequence he/she "reads" the text.

Dispersal (Lister):
"[…] the production and distribution of new media have become decentralised, highly individuated and woven ever more closely into the fabric of everyday life."
"[…] shift from a limited number of standardised texts to a very large number of highly differentiated texts."
"multiplicity of messages and sources"

Dispersal (my definition):
Because of the emergence of new devices (internet, PC,..) the media landscape became more and more diverse. This caused the downfall of the monopoly of "classic" media (print, radio, TV) and favoured the development of "new" media which addresses different audiences. As a result, the consumer has the choice between different media and becomes more selective. Furthermore, the consumer has the possibility to engage actively in the production of media since the means (PCs, cameras, software) become cheaper and cheaper (->prosumer).

stef said

at 5:45 pm on Apr 24, 2008

This is Stef

Lister defines digitality as “a digital media process…[where] all input data are converted into numbers“ (Lister 14). The opposite of that are “analogue media where all input data is converted into another physical object” (Lister 14). I would explain digitality by this opposition of either converting, i.e. translating the given data into an abstract symbol system, whereas an analogue processes rather transmits data simply by copying the data 1:1. I would try to illustrate this latter process with monks in monasteries who made copies of the bible, although they often weren’t even able to read, whereas the former process requires a further "able" instance of encoding and decoding.

Lister defines interactivity as “the multiple opportunities” that we have “to manipulate and intervene in media” (Lister 19). I would try to illustrate this by comparing innumerable terribly ugly worksheets that we got from our teachers at school that were often hardly readable anymore (because there sources were that ancient) with digitalised Handouts that may include for example links that you simply have to follow to get access to primary sources such as articles, statistics, pictures, etc.

Marie said

at 5:49 pm on Apr 24, 2008

This is Marie and I picked interactivity and virtuality.

Lister’s definition : "Interactivity is understood as one of the key "value added" characteristics of new media. It is seen as a method for maximizing consumer choice in relation to media texts."

In my opinion, interactivity gives us the possibility to choose what we specifically want to know when it comes to the news or any other platform of information. With the digital technology, there are a lot of opportunities to interact with new media. Thanks to interactivity, we are active. First, because we have decided to go to a specific message and also because then we can interact with it. For example, with internet, we can react by posting comments, sending emails… With the television, it is the same. Thanks to instant text messages, we can now send questions on TV to which the journalist can answer. In other words, we can choose what we want to hear on TV. With interactivity, new media become more personal and specific to everyone. That is what is attractive.

Lister’s definition : “The ‘virtual’ is frequently cited as a feature of postmodern cultures in which […] so many aspects of everyday experiences are technologically simulated.”

In my opinion, virtuality is a notion that has been created to define the real in opposition to the virtual real coming from the rise of the digital media. It is something we can see but that we cannot touch, though sometimes we can interact with it. It is everything that is not happening in the real world. However if we are having an online conversation, why do we say it is virtual? Though we can’t see the person we are talking to, it is still happening in the real world. It can be described as an illusion of actual reality, a simulation. But then where is the limit between the real and the virtual?When it comes to internet, this notion of virtuality reaches an extreme point of non-reality with the existence of virtual advisers on internet websites.

Ty said

at 2:53 pm on Apr 25, 2008

I chose to discuss interactivity and hypertextuality.

According to Lister, ‘the term stands for a more powerful sense of user engagement with media texts, a more independent relation to sources of knowledge, individualized media use, and greater user choice’. In other words, Lister believes that new media incorporate more, or at least different types of, interactivity than old media. With something like a website or a computer game, a user is directly interacting with, and in some cases, immersing themselves into, a world which is mutable and which responds to the user’s demands and commands. This is in contrast to older types of media; for example, the book, which gives each user the same experience every time.

Hypertext is defined by Lister as ‘a work which is made up from discrete units of material in which each one carries a number of pathways to other units’. Lister is describing something that resembles a modern web page such as Wikipedia, in which any particular article can carry many links to other entries in the wiki, or other sites outside Wikipedia that may carry information salient to the topic. Lister also quotes Vannevar Bush, who speaks of ‘the Memex’, a machine that relates information not in the ‘traditional’ way, i.e. through an index or alphabetization, but through relationships within the information, in much the same way as synapses in the brain relate and connect to one another. This is hypertextuality, and in the case of the modern website and other forms of new media, it is changing the way that we view and catalog information.

Miriam said

at 9:26 pm on May 8, 2008

Interactivity:

“a more powerful sense of user engagement with media texts, a more independent relation to sources of knowledge, individualized media use, and greater user choice.”

→ instead of simply consuming media, we can now interact with it, that is, we can shop on the internet, do home-banking, comment on texts, rate movies etc. and we have the choice to pick from an enormous range of data on the internet.

Hypertext:

“a work which is made up from discrete units of material in which each one carries a number of pathways to other units.”

→ each hypertext contains a number of links that will lead the user to another text, a picture or a video, for example. In this way, information is connected with more information related to the topic.

Thomas said

at 10:47 pm on Jun 20, 2008

Hi, this is Thomas.
I chose the following two characteristics of new media.

1. Digitality:
--------------
"In a digital media process all input data are conveyed into numbers. In terms of communication and representational media this
'data' usually takes the form of qualities such as light or sound or represented space which have already been coded into a
'cutltural form', such as written text, graphs and diagrams, photographs, recorded moving images,etc.[...]This is in marked
contrast to analogue media where all input data is converted into another physical object."

-->> In my own words: Every kind of data is converted into numbers (=machine code) and is stored as such. By getting converted
the data loses its physical presence and gets "omnipresent". The process of converting into code can be used vice versa and
already encoded data can be decoded and regain its -or another- physical form. Analogie means data being converted into another
physical form.

2. Interactivity:
-----------------
"As we have noted, digital media offer us a significant increase in our opportunity to manipulate and intervene in media. These
multiple opportunities are often referred to as the interactive potential of new media.""

-->> In my words: New Media are very special at one aspect: The "receiver" of the old, standard media, who just could listen,
watch or read like a kind of "ghost", the user of new media is rather some kind like a"participant". For sure he can listen,
watch and read to, but he can determine by himself, which parts of information, which "field" he will focus on, and he also can
intervene/ manipulate, that means he can w´make comments or change the field as he wants.

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