Literacy is not limited to a person’s ability to read and write printed text. With increasing changes in technology, it involves creating, analyzing, and communicating on digital media. New media literacy shows us how technology shapes meaning, persuasion, and connection. As Eyman explains, “Digital media’s peculiar nature challenges traditional categories”. That shows we need to think about digital communication in a different way than we do traditional print. We are constantly interacting with media online and actively creating meaning, rather than passively receiving it. We have to employ new methods of interpreting and using these texts.
In the article New Media Literacy by Angie Haro Moreno Scholars Packer and Jordan identify five other key features of new media integration, interactivity, hypermedia, immersion, and narrativity. These show up on Instagram where users mix text, image, and video to create a narrative to persuade others. Hashtags and links extend the reach of one’s audience, for example, while captioning and filtering give shape to the message received. Each post connects the creator and viewer within a larger digital narrative. Unlike printed media, new media is flexible and interactive. Readers decide in which direction they will take the content since hyperlinks, visuals, and multimedia are part of the text. Also, a digital text allows for changing font, color, and arrangement, making every reading different for each user. As Applen says, our reaction to digital text relates to oral communication because both forms invite participation.
Our ability to adapt determines the future of media. Websites keep evolving, social platforms constantly update, and apps reshape how we communicate and understand the world. With each new media literacy that we learn, we strengthen our critical thinking, creativity, and communication. Literacy today means using technology thoughtfully and with ethics; this also includes knowing how technology shapes culture and our view of reality.
Leave a Reply