Abstract

Have you ever heard of new media and literacy? Until taking the course ENG 3080, neither did I. New media would be considered the platforms we use daily like social media, websites, apps, and blogs that allow us to interact, communicate and access information. In terms of digital spaces, literacy is the ability to read, write, and understand information through the use of digital tools such as text, images, and audio. When you put the two together, New media and literacy is the ability to navigate and analyze content in our multimedia world. For example, the social media platform tiktok. Tiktok allows users to create and compose content that other users then engage with and reproduce their own content. We gain ideas through this multimedia world as we are able to interact with people through posts by comments, feeds, hyperlinks, images, videos, and audios. Our usability displays the choices we make through these platforms. You’ll learn to see that the choices we make in digital spaces are easily manipulated.

The Shift From Print to Screen

We have seen a shift in the digital age where everything is becoming web-based and print media is fading. Through J.D. Applen’s Writing for the Web: Composing, Coding, and Constructing Web Sites, he explores and emphasizes the impact of reading text from a screen compared to traditional print. Richard Lanham states when we take in information from a screen “the text becomes unfixed and interactive” and the reader can “change it” and assume the role of the writer (Applen 7). What this means is that the way we receive information whether it’s through a physical book/newspaper or a website/ social media platform impacts us and our identity. The text we read from a screen is more interactive as we are able to respond to other people’s opinions or points of view. We are able to leave a comment or even create a video saying whether we agree or disagree with a topic and why. Through new media we are able to gain insight to other people’s perspectives that then challenge our thinking and or get us brainstorming or creating our own thoughts and ideas. Through traditional print we are unable to interact with the text as it is solidified and is unchangeable. We may be able to highlight or write a note on the side bar or the page however it’s not the same as actively being engaged in the multimedia world.

“Text becomes unfixed and interactive” means the reader has the power to change or add to information they receive through digital platforms. An example of this would be Wikipedia. Through the website of Wikipedia, users are allowed to edit, add, or take away from the text. Whereas a traditional print book is fixed as it is permanent text with no interactive abilities. Instead of just being passive consumers, new media allows us to contribute to the text through direct engagement. Which can look like clicking on a hyperlink, leaving comments, reposting, or sharing thoughts on a video. Digital media allows room for collaborative experiences and communication where active participation shapes individuals’ understanding and engagement with text.

Modularity and Variability

To describe the embodiment of New media, Lev Manovich used the term modularity. Modularity refers to the separate pieces that make up digital content. They have separate identities that can work independently or together to create larger bodies of information (Applen 8)This means users are allowed to modify or make adjustments to their content while keeping the foundation of the already created object. For example, take an Instagram post on your feed. Let’s say you posted a picture on your page and a few minutes after posting it you realized you made an error in your caption. Instead of having to take down the whole post and delete the picture you have the ability to edit just your caption. As well as other modules like add a song, location, filter, or tag a person. You see how each of these separate modules play a role independently but also collectively as a contribution to create a larger body of content. Each of these components make up the whole post while also demonstrating flexibility. Flexibility is a key component pertaining to new media as users are constantly engaging and making changes, edits, modification, and adjustments through text and content. Manovich states, modular units can be combined and recombined to produce larger entities that are variable (Applen 8). Which then leads me to variability.

Variability is the different ways of creating and presenting said content. When Manovich uses this term to describe new media he uses it to reiterate how I mentioned, new media is unfixed and is constantly interchangeable. Variability provides different experiences for targeted audiences based on users preference, interaction, and context. For example, on Youtube based on previous videos you have watched and enjoyed that data is stored and used then present you with suggestions. The suggestions are based on previously watched videos and oftentimes labeled “videos we think you may enjoy.” Also on Instagram when you’re scrolling through Instagram reels there is an option to press interested or uninterested on the post you are watching. These personalized experiences through new media tailor the change in content based on the user’s engagement. Thus creating a new dynamic that feeds users what they want instead of what we may need to challenge our thinking. Whereas with traditional print if we are uninterested in a book we just wouldn’t continue to read it we may find one more appealing or preferred. In both contexts, with new media and literacy and traditional media, both create experiences where users/readers are allowed to interpret differently and create unique ideas from them.

Identity In New Media and Literacy

The choices a user makes impacts the type of content suggested to them. As we are given the power to interact with text we are also put in the position to be influenced by digital rhetoric. We are manipulated to believe the choices we make pertaining to new media and literacy are solely up to us. However, you’ll come to learn this is false. Every click, like, dislike, or share you make through new media becomes a part of your digital agency stored up and used against you. “We think we are making unique choices that reflect who we are as individuals, but this is illusory” (Applen 11). This highlights how our collected data flow through these platforms create pre-programmed experiences for us. Without awareness we make these choices, we don’t think anything of it at the time but they shape who we are and why we think the way we do.

There is no denying that media is all around us and constantly being consumed through different platforms. New media isn’t just about consuming the content but also, creating and analyzing it. It is important to understand what we are consuming and its influence on our decisions and identity.