Digital and New Media

Digital and new media studies the computer-based, networked, and interactive media that have reshaped communication and society.

Scope

It covers networked communication, the internet and social media, digital culture and platforms, and the social implications of new media.

Core questions

• How do digital and networked media differ from earlier media?
• How does the internet reshape society?
• What characterizes digital media forms?
• How do platforms shape communication?

Key concepts

• Network society
• Interactivity
• Convergence
• Platforms
• Digital culture
• New media form

Key theories

The network society

Castells theorized a network society organized by digital information and communication technologies.

The language of new media

Manovich identified the formal principles of digital media (numerical representation, modularity, variability).

History

New-media studies emerged in the 1990s-2000s (Castells, Manovich) to analyse networked, digital communication, now central to studies of platforms, algorithms, and social media.

Debates

Liberating or controlling?

Whether digital media empower participation or enable surveillance and control.

Key figures

• Manuel Castells
• Lev Manovich

Seminal works

• castells-1996
• manovich-2001

Frequently asked questions

What is the network society?

Castells's concept of a society whose core structures and activities are organized around digital information networks.