About New Media

New media is an organic, growing field.  Originally, the term distinguished between “old” media such as print and analog television with “new” digital/hypermedia forms.  A more recent definition refers to "new forms of human and media communication that have been transformed by the creative use of technology to fulfill the same basic social need to interact and transact.   New media is also closely associated with the term 'Web 2.0' which refers to a proposed second generation of Internet-based services - such as web-based applications, social networking sites, ‘wikis’ - that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users.” 

While traditional or “old” analog media was limited to indelible uses such as print and live broadcast, digital media allows content to be reproduced, repurposed and revised as needed for various uses. Analog tools such as typewriters could impose text on paper, but the text could not be revised without re-typing. Digital tools such as Microsoft Word allow the revision of text before committing output to paper.

New media enables:

1. •Emerging new technologies resulting in enhanced human communication
   

2. •The combining of images, sound, video and text in new ways
   

3. •Customization in how users experience and interact with content
   

4. •Non-linear access to content. Users can move to any point within digital content, rather than being limited to “turning one page at a time.”
   

5. •Synchronous (real time) and asynchronous (Time shifted) communication and content sharing
   

6. •And much more...