Media Convergence as Evolutionary Process
Within this chapter, we address convergence as matter of evolutionary process. Key terminology is introduced and discussed, and provide a critical overview of the phenomenon of convergence. This chapter presents several key-ideas existing in literature ar
- PDF / 223,256 Bytes
- 14 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 6 Downloads / 210 Views
1
What do We Understand Under Media Convergence?
One of the challenges of studying media convergence is that the concept is so broad that it has multiple meanings. As a result the academic literature in this area is diverse and underdeveloped from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective (Wirth, 2006). In this introductory chapter we will try to take the different interpretations of media convergence—which will be evident in the various book chapters—into account, but attempt to make them converge into some common ground, which we already investigated in Dal Zotto, Galichet, and Lugmayr, (2011), Lugmayr and Dal Zotto, (2013), AIS SIG eMedia (SIG-eMedia n.d.) http://aisnet.org/group/SIG-eMedia, and the International Ambient Media Association (iAMEA) (Anon n.d.) http://www.ambientmediaassociation.org. According to the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary the general concept of convergence refers to “the act of converging and especially moving toward union or uniformity” (Mish, 1993). Within the media field, which is the research area that we are addressing in this book, convergence can be identified with the “ability to deliver different media channels via one digital platform” (McPhillips & Merlo, 2008). Previously broadcast media such as radio, television (e.g., Lugmayr, Niiranen, & Kalli, 2004) and the Internet, as well as print media have been distributed via different and well-distinguished platforms. Today content is becoming more and more digitalized: No matter the type of signal, any content can be
C. Dal Zotto (*) Academy of Journalism and Media, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Neuchaˆtel, Neuchaˆtel, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] A. Lugmayr Visualisation and Interactive Media, School of Media, Culture, and Creative Arts (MCCA), Curtin University, Bentley/Perth, Western Australia, Australia e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 A. Lugmayr, C. Dal Zotto (eds.), Media Convergence Handbook - Vol. 2, Media Business and Innovation, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-54487-3_1
3
4
C. Dal Zotto and A. Lugmayr
transformed into undifferentiated bits of data that converge onto the same platform (McPhillips & Merlo, 2008). Media convergence is therefore rather a process more than an outcome. However, digitalized content can be distributed on different digital platforms with little or no impact on costs. Content convergence can lead to distribution and thus consumption divergence. As such, the media convergence concept does not only refer to a technological shift but it includes changes within the industrial, cultural and social paradigms of our environment reflecting both media convergence and divergence processes. Indeed media convergence alters relationships between technologies, industries, audiences, genres and markets. According to Rheingold (2000) advances in technology enable technological convergence, which in turn has “social-side effects” in that “the virtual, social and physical world are colliding, merging and coordinating”. Je
Data Loading...
