New Media and Networks
Theories of digital, networked, and computational media, from the network society and the language of new media to platforms and everyday digital life.
Definition
New media are digital, computational, and networked communication technologies; their study examines the distinctive forms of these media and the social, cultural, and political changes associated with networked communication.
Scope
This area covers the study of new media: digital and computational forms, networked communication, and the social transformations they entail. It spans Castells's network society, the formal logic of new media, platform and software studies, media convergence and participation, and the mediation of everyday life through digital technologies.
Sub-topics
Core questions
- What is distinctive about digital and networked media?
- How does the network society reorganize social and economic life?
- How do platforms and software shape contemporary communication?
- How does digital mediation reshape everyday life and participation?
Key concepts
- New media
- Network society
- Platform
- Convergence
- Participation
- Digital mediation
Key theories
- The network society
- Castells's thesis that information networks have become the dominant organizing logic of contemporary economy, society, and culture.
- The language of new media
- Manovich's identification of the formal principles, such as numerical representation and modularity, that distinguish computational media from prior forms.
- The platform society
- Van Dijck and colleagues' analysis of how platforms increasingly organize social interaction and public values in connective societies.
History
From the 1990s, scholars sought to theorize digital and networked media as a new media regime. Castells described the network society, Manovich theorized the formal logic of new media, and Jenkins analyzed convergence and participation. More recently, platform and software studies and analyses of datafication have extended the field to dominant digital platforms.
Debates
- Rupture versus continuity in 'new' media
- Whether digital media constitute a radical break from prior media or are best understood through continuities of remediation, political economy, and social use.
Key figures
- Manuel Castells
- Lev Manovich
- Henry Jenkins
- Jose van Dijck
Related topics
Seminal works
- castells1996
- manovich2001
- jenkins2006
- vandijck2018
Frequently asked questions
- What makes media 'new'?
- New media are typically defined by being digital, programmable, networked, and interactive, though scholars caution that 'newness' is relative and historically recurring.
- What is the 'network society'?
- Castells's term for a society whose core activities are organized around digital information networks, reshaping the economy, culture, and power.