How Networked Media Culture Enhances Online Communication

In this day and age, the internet as we know it is becoming increasingly prevalent in our society. The internet (or Web 2.0) is used on a daily basis as part of our lives. It is for this reason that communication in its most basic form has been transformed in a way to suit the online world. As a result of digital media, how we communicate is constantly evolving.

The internet differs from traditional media in many ways. Before the internet, traditional media such as the radio, television and newspaper informed us of any news. We used to communicate through face-to-face interaction, the telephone, postal mail, fax, and telegram. Although new technology has not completely erased these previous methods of communicating and receiving information, it has opened the door to an influx of new ways to communicate. These include: email, instant messaging, chat rooms, blogging, social media, and data sharing. The internet also differs in comparison to traditional media in that it is interactive interface. It includes a range of text, images, video and audio (multimedia) on almost every page. 

Traditionally, the use of media has been used as a source of one-way communication. That is, information is sent from the “sender” to the “receiver” without any further interaction. However, the internet does not always follow this one-way communication model. Users now have the ability to leave comments, share the post with friends or the public, and create their own content. This creates an interaction between the sender and the receiver where the sender can receive feedback and communicate back-and-forth. This model is called the two-way communication model.

One-way communication model

Two-way communication model

Political campaigning is just one area that has been changed by online communication. Stereotypically the method of political campaigning has been to rely heavily on coverage in traditional media. This means that the image being portrayed, what news is included or excluded, and the opinions that are being created, are all controlled by the media. The 2008 US election was the first real “online” election which was said to embrace social networking sites, multimedia and other digital media outlets. 

Throughout the 2008 election, Barack Obama used social media and his website to produce a mass of supporters and financial donators. He took advantage of these media sites for free advertising, encouraged his followers to share his posts (thus creating a broader audience scope) and could rally supporters like never before. Using social media was effective as people chose to consume the material rather than have the campaign interrupt their television show.

However social media has not replaced traditional media completely. The roles of online networks are to enhance the agenda in the traditional media (rather than replace it) as well as create discussion and hype. For example, this video below outlines how social media is said to create a public sphere where people can voice opinions, discuss ideas and in-turn increase democracy. 

The internet is able to provide certain tools which enhance online communication. Hyperlinks for example, are a mechanism originally designed as an online referencing system but inadvertently changed how we access information. Unlike traditional citations where a person would need to invest time in order to locate documents, hyperlinks can instantaneously direct users to the source. The use of hyperlinks has since developed into much more. They are now used as an algorithm by search engines to determine the popularity of a site. Hyperlinks have changed the way in which people navigate online by transporting their attention from place-to-place, instantaneous access to information, and a way for search engines to determine the websites popularity.