Online Media assignments

1.      How does online redefine the notion of Mass communication? Discuss with suitable examples.

Mass Communication is a broader term that encompasses the process of exchanging information in between sender/s and the multiple audiences. Today, the communication facilitated by traditional media (Radio, Television, Newspapers and Film) is being less effective and less efficient due to the shift of audience attention towards online media. The traditional media assists the mass communication which seems to be more like a linear communication when we take into account the degree of interactivity between the communicators. However, the advancement in the internet technology has given rise to online media often known as new media. With several features of online media the notion of communication has been redefined these days. Some of the important notions brought by online media regarding mass communication can be discussed as follows:

'One to many’ versus 'many to many'

Traditionally mass communication was like 'one to many' function where the media organization or sender used to send message but there was no efficient channel for retrieving feedback. Such feedback then couldn't be the part of what was being communicated further. In this process, there is a sender sending a common message to the undefined audience on the other side. However, online media considers that these are many senders and many receivers at once. For instance, group chat on Facebook or Skype. In this process there is a possibility at many senders can send message at a time and also receive many message at once.

User control communication and greater interactivity

Unlike in traditional notion of mass communication, online has invited newer facilities for the audience. It is now possible for the audience to have control over information. For example, in a website with use of convergence, a user can watch a related video by clicking to the hyperlinked content. OR else the user may just go through other contents which he wants. This has increased the interactivity because it demands for the active participation of users highlighting the notion that a reader rules over the content.

Competition, Convergence and Symbiosis

The online media can incorporate the multimedia content in a web page. This can bring all the contents of radio, television, print and film into one interface of an online page. The same content can be viewed, read and listened. Likewise, online media has increased the scope for media symbiosis by creating platform for the exchange of information between different media. This has made the communication business more competitive. This is why the online sites have to make their appearance and service more effective and efficient.

Promotion of Freedom of expression with limited gatekeeping

Online media has a feature that it has less control over information flow. Unlimited space and access of everyone as an author has made it possible the content appear without being much gate-kept. This has promoted the freedom of expression. For example; it is possible for anyone to hide their identity and anonymously share their views or information which they couldn't do it using the traditional media.

Fastest medium widens scope for more credibility and accountability

These days it is possible to disseminate information upon demand within very less time. For instance, if a user from a distant place tries to explore more about an event being happened in Nepal then he may comment on the news of a news portal. And the authors may call for gathering information to the reporter who is still in their field. Then the reporter using his/her phone can upload the demanded information. This has increased the scope for credibility because there is less change for gatekeeping. Since everyone has access to channel for providing information, one can't have total control over anything. Also another important aspect of online media is that quick correction is possible in case of any mistakes. This can increase the degree of accountability.

Thus, in the face of mass communication as perceived traditionally, the online media has brought many advantages. Among many of them the special feature like speed, interactivity, etc have changed the notion of mass communication that distinctly remain apart from that of traditional notion of communication.

2.      Discuss citizen journalism. Also discuss how the online media have been vital in the development of citizen journalism

Citizen journalism redefines the notion of journalism. Journalism as a profession was conventionally taken as the job of those experienced, professionals and experts, who could collect, edit and disseminate the information by maintaining the traditionally established standards. However, with the increasing access of the public towards the tools of mass communication, it has become possible that everyone can perform the role of a journalist by sharing of information whatever they have of the public interest. For instance, blogging can be taken as an example of citizen journalism.

The concept of citizen journalism is based upon the common individuals taking an active participation in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating information. This concept was derived from the integration of words like "public", "participatory", "democratic" and "street" journalism.

Citizen journalism is even practiced in the places where there is no access to internet or the time when internet technology was not so much developed. Telephone, letters and other means of personal communication could be used to report about certain events by the ordinary people. But with the advent of internet technology, the online media have increased public participation in the process of news manufacture making it possible for the individuals to share news and information to wider community within no time.

It is the internet that provided the common people to transmit information globally. That was a power once reserved for only the very largest media corporations and news agencies. This promotes the concept that news is everywhere, everyone can explore and find out and hence share the truth and everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information which the rise of online media has made it possible. For, example a user kept the video of Seti Flood in the facebook and informed the public of Pokhara to be aware about it before the arrival of flood to the city. It wouldn't be possible to share information this quickly unless there wasn't any media to facilitate citizen journalism.

Today, online media has been a vital medium for the growth of citizen journalism. Internet has allowed the citizens to share the information of any kind like text, pictures, audio and video. And this is the difference that online has brought to the concept of citizen journalism. Online facilitates citizens to have their crucial role as news gatherer, analyst, editor and audience. This has made it easier to share the realities in the original forms. There are many kinds of platform for the citizens to share their information. Such as, the emergence of the Internet - with blogs, podcasts, streaming video and other Web-related innovations - is what has made citizen journalism possible.

3.      Discuss functions and dysfunctions of web 2.0 and social media with suitable examples.         

Web 2.0 is a concept which can be understood as the version of World Wide Web that works as a platform for the sharing of information in a more interactive way. This type of web network allows the users to collaborate and interact with each other. Unlike the previous versions of web technologies, web 2.0 is more about how the use of the internet is changing. These days "the Internet has become more of a platform for existing technologies, many of them collaborative, and a perpetual beta site for new technologies."

Experts often argue whether Web 2.0 is something new, or merely an extension of existing technologies. The bottom line is the magnitude of the impact of the current generation of services. Web-based communities and hosted services such as social networking sites, wikis, and blogs, aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing among users; but the very openness of these sites makes them vulnerable to new, multi-layered malware attacks. In this scenario, web 2.0 and social media as its compartment are posing different functions as well as dysfunctions

Functions of Web 2.0 and social media:

·         Provide the platform for socail bookmarks

·         Comment and reputation: The success of social media applications, such as news groups, blogs, online forums, question-answering systems, and social news services, depends highly on the quality and attractiveness of the contributions from regular users. Usually, good contributions are produced by a relatively small set of “reputable” users and consumed by a large user population.

·         Crowdsourcing content: the websites like answers.com and wikipedia.org are base on crowdsourced content. Since eveyone can openly contribute for the sites to generate content more information can be archived and explored due to this function of the web 2.0

·         Blogging: Somehow similar to maintaining personal websites in the previous web 1, blogging is possible due to web 2.0. Blogging lets anyone own space through the means of cloud computing. This has made it possible for the individual to share information, create platforms for conversations and represent certain communities.

·         Documentation: Storage and archival of multimedia contents or information of all kinds sush as text, image, video and audio is possible on the unlimited space in the internet. This makes the archival system more effiecient and effective due to ease in search options and arrangement of similar or related items in a proper order.

·         Audio-video livecasting: Web 2.0 has made it possible for the transfer of audio-video content live through the chat tools like facebook, skype, yahoo etc. This has made the web possible to bring communicators closer to the real life situation.

·         Social Networking: People of anywhere in the world can involve in the network of a virtual social sphere or communities. Facebook, twitter, linkedin etc are some examples of socail networking sites. Through these sites people can maintain new relations and remain as equal golbal citizens.

·         Business facilitation: The advancement in the internet technology has created newer opportunities to business activities. The scope for business is now unlimited and can reach anywhere at anytime due to the development of interactive sites.

·         Function of wikies and RSS feeds: Wikies allow the users to add, edit or remove content in a website. RSS feeds generate contents for the web by adopting the syndicated contents from other websites such as: news feeds used in a blog.

Dysfunction of web 2.0 and social media

Dependence, a barrier to creativity: With a lot of information available online, use of web 2.0 and social media can make people depenent upon what is already there. People spend their more time surfing internet rather than finding something from the nature and the outer world.

Reduce social cultural spaces: The social networking sites make people unaware about their physical, social and cultural relationship.

Virus, piracy and frauds: With the rise in social media virus threats have increased. The possibility of using pirated software is a problem. The torrent is an example of such act. Likewise there are a lot of frauds happening due to misuse of the facilities provided by web 2.0.

Misrepresentation or fake identity: Hiding identity can be a serious threat when it comes to fraud activities and misrepresentation. For example: users with fake idenity can defame others. Slander and libel are some example of the dysfunction of social media. Pornography is yet another dysfunction of social media and web 2.0. This is considered to lead the society towards disorder and misuse of the internet media.

4.      Write Short notes: Zukerberg

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is the chairman and one of four co-founders of Facebook, a very popular social networking site. Zuckerberg who always opposed the idea of having media corporations owned by the conglomerates, with a thought of creating an open information flow for the people, launched Facebook in the 2004.

Zuckerberg was born in 1984 in New York. He graduated from the Harvard and made his career as a software developer. In the 1990s he learnt programming from his father. He enjoyed developing computer programs, especially communication tools and games.