Lecture 2 - New News

This week we went back to the beginning.  The evolution of the web.  What it used to be and what it has become.  

Back in the good old days, mass communication consisted of newspapers, television, radio and magazines.  This old or tradition media was created and developed in the late 19th century and targeted large aggregated audiences.  We have now moved into a technologically dominant world where New Media has been introduced.  Divided into three categories, new media consists of: 

Web 1.0 - Information web
The information web was a way companies could advertise and market themselves and their products to the masses.  Possibly the most straightfoward, it was structured in a way that there was a provider of information and an audience to receive it.

Web 2.0 - New media
The advent of social networking meant we were given an entirely new purpose.  Social networking sites gave us the opportunity to speak to the world and not let the world just speak to us.  Social groups were formed and the web became an entirely unique platform.  We have become 'produsers' where we, (the users) produce the content we use.


Web 3.0 - Semantic web
Is tailored to the individual.  It can be hyperlocalised so we can have news narrowed to specific categories and receive it specific to our location.  Advertising will be specific to our needs.  A downside of web 3.0 is that general information isn't delivered to the masses, so people might become ignorant to the wider world.

We then moved on to the paywall.  The simple fact that we might have to start paying for online news shocks most people.  For years we have been happy paying for newspapers and magazines but for some reason most of us think that if we access the same information online it should be free.  Everything is moving from paper to the web.  Gumtree and Ebay has suffocated the classified the same as free online news and entertainment is suffocating newspapers.  How do people expect the creators of the news are supposed to make any money?  Something to think about.  I wonder if a paywall is introduced, will people stop caring about the news because they simply don't want to pay for it online?

Lily x